Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra violist Randolph Kelly had premiered Adler's Viola Concerto in 2000, but the orchestra's artistic management preferred that he not perform a contemporary work for his next solo appearance. With that guideline, Kelly contacted Adler, the master of orchestration, to arrange the Brahms Sonata in F minor, Opus 120 for viola and orchestra. In this new setting, "The piece promises to bring the lush romantic strains of the famous sonata to a larger audience without upsetting the purists." (Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic)