From the recording Intermezzo (3:35)
The origin of this composition, as a solo piano improvisation, was unique among the pieces comprising the suite in that the piano part was completely written before any accompaniment was added -- in all of the other pieces, much of the arrangement developed concurrently with the melody and harmonic structure as the compositional process marched forward in a linear fashion. I recorded the piano part via MIDI and imported it into notation software (Sibelius), where I added the string and brass arrangement. The piano composition suggested a deeply pensive to frankly sorrowful emotion, although this was not derived from any specific personal event or situation. I wanted to keep the strings, and especially the brass, considerably restrained and maintain a dark tone color.