 He added, "The first movement has an improvisatory air (note, for example, the spontaneous-sounding chirping of woodwinds that accompany the viola's opening solo) that stands in stark contrast with the obsessive character of the brief scherzo-like movement that follows.The composer writes that the concerto 'moves from inwardness to ebullience and from an ambiguous and shifting harmonic language to tonality' – a dramatic structure similar to Piston's.