The
interesting aspect of this piece is that Fine created an
actual discourse. The first section, labeled
“Amorous,” is a collection of phrases moving
rather slowly in quarter- and half-notes that are later
fragmented and juxtaposed in the second section’s
“Boisterous,” which consists of fast moving
passages of eighth- and sixteenth-notes forming short
phrases and figures that are interrupted frequently by
passages from the previous section, creating the
impression of two goatherds having a lively
conversation.
–Heidi Von
Gunden, The Music of Vivian Fine, Scarecrow Press,
1999