Lamento – Tempo giusto, intense e barbaro from Sonata for solo viola [1991-4]

Ligeti was inspired to write his Sonata for solo viola on hearing Tabea Zimmermann play – robust and powerful, yet always tender. Tongue-in-cheek he described the sound of its lowest string as solid, a little husky, with an aftertaste of wood, earth and tannic acidity. The Lamento movement is robust with its repeated opening motif with its strong folk links before moving to the mysterious whispering harmonics and a quiet close.