Monologue turns the viola into a solitary dramatic voice. The title suggests speech, but not public speech: rather, an inward statement, one person alone with a thought that must be sounded.

The viola’s register gives the work its particular tension. It can speak warmly, darkly and almost vocally, while also reaching into exposed, fragile heights. In this short span, the instrument becomes both narrator and listener.

The work’s concentration is central to its character. It does not unfold as a large argument, but as a compressed inner utterance: intimate, darkly lyrical and exposed.

• Form One movement.
• Duration Approximately 5 minutes.
• Forces Solo viola.

Monologue was first performed on 14 July 2001 at Lockenhaus by Vladimir Mendelssohn.

The earlier Sikorski catalogue lists the work among Auerbach’s solo works as a 1997 composition for solo viola, with a duration of 5′30″.

Monologue belongs to Auerbach’s early works for a single unaccompanied instrument. These works often use the solo medium not as display alone, but as a psychological and expressive space.

The viola’s middle voice makes the work especially close to human speech. Its sound world is less brilliant than the violin and less overtly grounded than the cello, allowing the music to inhabit an ambiguous space between confession, song and shadow.

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