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Programme Note

Cucaraccia and Fugue was written as a pendant to Violist's Notebooks I and II. It is a four-minute piece for four violists or viola orchestra. Violists, though they play the most beautiful of instruments, retain an underdog or underground mentality, which makes them good company.

The world premiere was given at the Token Creek Festival in 2003 by Sally Chisholm, Larry Neuman, Rictor Noren, and John Harbison. Steven Tenenbaum, Ida Kavafian, Anthea Kreston and (again) John Harbison perform on the Naxos CD.

— John Harbison