Like many carillonneurs, I have played and enjoyed carillon compositions and arrangements by Ronald Barnes over the years. I became interested in the idea of employing the stylistic traits of the better examples of Barnes's carillon music into an original piece. My intention also was to provide a piece that is more accessible to the listener—and for that matter, to the player—than some of the compositions I have written in a more "advanced" idiom. In character, this piece is not unlike Barnes's Introduction and Sicilienne or the “Sicilienne" from Serenade I, though the various themes that occer through the piece are perhaps more strongly contrasted with one another. Structurally, the piece is in rondo form, with the final presentation of the "A" theme being a more extensive one (with melody in the pedal and rippling arpeggios above it common to many Barnes pieces). The harmonic style and the song-like melody also reflect the influence of Barnes's compositions from the late 1970s and early 1980s. I gave the première performance of this piece at Culver on June 25, 2005. As with Barnes's compositions, this piece should be played rather steadily, with give-and-take happening mostly at major phrase breaks and key changes, but with sensitive dynamic shaping of the phrase.

—John Gouwens