The name is absent

26

each instrument was not solidified at the time of conception, even though this piece as a
whole was conceived from a narrative. As mentioned earlier, Larsen now sees the viola
as the observer of the black roller, although she confesses that she “didn’t even know that
when I wrote it. I know now there is an observer, [but] it’s very under-realized in my
mind.”³² Larsen also points out that in any natural phenomenon, the observer is part of
the event, making the viola’s role two-sided.

In this aspect, Larsen is more successful than she perhaps admits. The viola part,
although featured quite extensively in the opening sections, becomes an equal partner in
the ensemble as the piece (and the storm) progresses. In this respect the viola joins the
other instruments in becoming part of the event itself. The viola returns at the end with
the last melodic material perhaps to “assess the damage” or comment on the events that
have unfolded. As Larsen remarks, at the end of the piece, “the air changes, and the
adrenaline at least flows into another part of your body, and you know it’s not fight or
flight any more, and you just remain. That’s what the viola is.”³³ Thus, the narrative as
Larsen now conceives it is driven by the viola, though it took her years after composing
the work to come to this.³⁴

Similarly, the role and function of the wind instruments became clearer to Larsen
after Black Roller was completed. In general much of the woodwind writing in the
opening sections can be seen as more conversational in nature, with short one-beat
motives passed among the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, suggesting simple chatting
among a group of people. However, at ∣C∣ the first chorale is introduced by the winds,
32

Larsen, interview, 7/2009.

³³ Ibid.

34 „ . ,

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