This work was premiered in 1961, but is also an assemblage of older material by the composer who decided to date the piece retrospectively as 1960-1936. The suite combines Asian influences with traditional Western forms, and begins with the Renaissance dance from southern France known as the "Estampe" (literally, stomping dance). A captivating old/new sound is created with the lower strings keep up a rhythmic staccato on strings and on the wood body of the instruments, with a lively unison melody on top and a tremolo drone note in the middle range. The next piece is "Chorale: Et in Arcadia ego." Richly harmonized, at turns plaintive and mysterious, this chorale is among the most beautiful of slow-tempo compositions for strings. (The curious title phrase is the same as that of the mysterious and controversial 1630 painting by Poussin and the 1618 painting by Guercino that seem to suggest a mystery concerning the burial place, if any, of Jesus...and indeed if he died on the cross). "Ductia: In honor of Eros" employs almost the same voicing as the "Estampe, " but the unison melody is embellished with Mid-Eastern/Indian sliding inflections and tuning, and the rhythmic accents are the tala-like ones of classical Northern Indian music. "Lament" is a slow work like the "Chorale" but polyphonic, dramatic and chromatic in its harmonies. The "Round: in honor of Hermes" again employs the same voicing as the "Estampe" and "Ductia, " but here the rhythm is even more complex and broken up, and counter lines scoop and slide beneath the melody. "Little fugue: Viola's reward" is again a chromatic, polyphonic work like the "Lament, " and is a sighing and at times passionately declarative two-voice fugue, that is especially effective in its unadorned simplicity. The concluding "Nocturne" combines an exquisite descending melody and countermelody over a still, utterly peaceful drone. This is not a romantic but a deep, universal night music.

© "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide