Explanation
Correct answer: C.
Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of how a violist in a string quartet might behave to ensure their instrument can be heard clearly by the audience during a solo. According to the text, such quartets consist of two violins, a viola, and a cello, configured as follows: the cellist and one of the violinists both face the audience, while the other violinist and the violist face each other. In other words, the viola and its f-holes, or sound openings, are “angled away from the audience,” just as the musician playing the instrument is. As the text implies, the f-holes are crucial for projecting sound, so this positioning reduces the volume of the viola as perceived by the audience and in turn presents a dilemma during a solo, in which the viola should be heard clearly above the other instruments in the quartet. Therefore, during a viola solo, the violist would most logically adjust their position and face the audience directly, thereby projecting the sound emerging from the instrument’s f-holes toward listeners. This adjustment would maximize the viola’s sound for the benefit of the audience for the duration of the solo.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice A
Choice A is incorrect because the text’s discussion is about how a violist in a string quartet behaves to ensure that their instrument can be heard clearly by the audience during a solo, given the orientation of this instrument in a typical string quartet configuration, and a soloist would want the viola to be more prominent relative to the other instruments in this context, not less prominent. Therefore, it wouldn’t be sensible for the violist to instruct the other members of the quartet to play louder during the solo.
Choice B
Choice B is incorrect because the text’s discussion is about how a violist behaves to ensure that their instrument can be heard clearly by the audience during a solo, given the orientation of this instrument in a typical string quartet configuration, and a violist would want the viola to be more prominent and therefore louder relative to all the other instruments. Therefore, it wouldn’t be sensible for the violist to play at the same volume as the cellist during a solo.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect. While a violist might very well look at the sheet music during a solo to ensure they are playing the piece correctly, the direction that a musician looks in doesn’t determine how effectively the sound of their instrument is projected to the audience. If, as the text stipulates, a violist wants to ensure that their instrument can be heard clearly, given the orientation of the viola in the typical seating configuration of a string quartet, then the violist would likely change their physical orientation, facing toward the audience and therefore angling the viola’s f-holes in that direction during the solo.