This piece was inspired by Ai Qing's poem Wall which he wrote following a visit to East Berlin in 1979. Ai Qing was a notable poet of the Mao Zedong era in China and suffered many years hard labour and exile because he criticized
the Chinese government in print.
The piece was written between September 2022 and January 2023, and begins by conveying a sense of musing with a melodic line high on the viola's A string designed to suggest the sound of the Chinese erhu. This is articulated by pizzicato phrases initially inspired by the sound of the pipa. As the melodic line reaches a highpoint and then recedes the pizzicato comes to the fore and leads to a series of episodes. These in turn build to a repeat of the opening melodic line. However, it is now subject to distortion through the use of wide leaps designed to reflect the impassioned questioning of the final part of Ai's poem. The line is articulated, fragmented and accompanied by material from the preceding episodes, all of which work towards a climactic point:
this is followed by a brief coda in which the the music ascends to the highest note possible on the viola.