As the title suggests, Polygraph can be heard as a study of truth-telling in a context where telling the truth is not a simple act of will but may only be discovered through some sort of challenging exertion. The opening passages of the piece lie somewhat higher than the core viola register, and fragmentary material recurs in the way a doubtful story might be insisted upon in a slightly unnatural voice. The succeeding course of the piece then becomes a search for instrumental center and for a greater breadth of musical line, a version of the truth arrived at by way of the virtuoso efforts of the performer.