Three Musicians for viola and guitar (1981), was inspired by the two Picasso paintings by that name, one hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the other in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. One of thesepaintings includes a dog.

The piece is in five movements. Each movement incorporates elements of a particular style of American folk music, although these styles are often abstracted to a bizarre extent. The styles are: old-time fiddle style, blues, bluegrass style, jazz and country music style. The movements are entitled:

1. "Fanfare for the First Musician"
2. "Philadelphia Version (with Dog)"
3. "Fanfare for the Second Musician"
4. "New York Version (without Dog)"
5. "Fanfare for the Third Musician and Dog"

1-minute (1.56m) sound excerpt from the fourth movement. David. A Jaffe, guitar; Constance Whitman, viola.

Video of Duo Verdejo performing the first two movements of "Three Musicians"