The piece, though met with disdain by critics upon its publication in the early 1950s, has attained a prominent place among Norwegian piano sonatas.
Sonata Etere is characterized by bimodal/bitonal effects, fixed, continually varied rhythmic patterns, and shifts of accent.
There is a marked difference, however, in that the themes themselves retain their original form, rather than being chopped up into pieces as they would be in, say, a sonata by Beethoven.
As developmental tools go, more emphasis is placed on alternating rhythmic patterns and shifts of key and accent.
This article contains material from Young Composers released under the GNU Free Documentation License