This Recitative-like theme and 15 variations was called "The flutist's Mount Everest" by Walfrid Kujala, and a "lyrical gift comparable to that of the late Samuel Barber" by The New York Times. Robert Beaser himself writes "the underlying argument of the work comes from the developing conflict between gentle diatonic material and its more spectral opposites" AMEB AMUSA level.
