The name is absent

150

than develop melodic figures to build intensity within a movement. Her works are
generally quite sectional, yet clear cadence points are infrequent, and in some cases non-
existent. In some pieces, like Black Birds, Red Hills or Cajun Set, Larsen uses ostinati to
create environment and atmosphere; in others, like BlackRoller and the Viola Sonata, she
utilizes changes in timbre and articulation to capture a particular mood or character.

A detailed study of Larsen’s work also reveals numerous motivic connections
between pieces. These fall into three main categories. The first is her deliberate reuse of
musical material, both from outside sources, such as in Salt Peanuts or Cajun Set, and
from within her own music, for instance in Quartet: She Wrote and Over, Easy?' The
second category encompasses musical gestures that are more influential in their nature.
These generally consist of originally composed gestures, motives, or phrases, but are
related to some sort of outside source, such as a transcription of the auctioneer’s voice, as
in Bid Call, or a more general nod to jazz, rock ’n’ roll, or some other type of American
music, as is the basis for the outer movements in the Viola Sonata. The third category,
and the most difficult one to substantiate, relates to subconscious connections between
two of Larsen’s own pieces. This study has found that there are links in gesture and mood
that connect Black Birds, Red Hills with the Viola Sonata in a manner that the composer
did not intend. Larsen was quite surprised to realize that the two pieces, composed many
years apart, were so closely related motivically. Even when not intended, Larsen’s
compositional “fingerprint” can be found in numerous works.

In this study a pattern of motion and non-motion in Larsen’s music has also
emerged. This originates with Black Roller, a study of the contrasts of a weather event

² See Example 3.2, 3.4, and the discussion of Cajun Set in Chapter 1.

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