A difficult ensemble to write for but when asked by Ray DesRoches to write something for his quartet with Gil Kalish my immediate idea was a concerto for Ray with the piano parts to be orchestrated later. However, Ray thought that to feature him in that way was inappropriate. Also the piece should be short and not too difficult as it was to open the concert for another premiere of an involved work by Roger Reynolds followed by a performance of George Crumb's "Music for a Summer's Evening" a work previously written for them and which actually seems to take that long. I resolved to write something introspective where the percussion subtly enhances the inner qualities of the piano. Divided among the percussionists are 12 drums ranged from large bass drum to medium tom-tom and 12 metals ranged from large gong to triangle. The form was to be a non-directional meandering. This was the spring of 1979. My daughter had just turned 3. It then seemed possible that my dreams for us might be realized. Her name is Eve Carmen. The initials of E. C. H. are, in pitches, E C B and this is the work's prime trichord, very beautiful and so full of meanings. Eve is Hebrew for life. The work was premiered at the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress and received a review from the Washington Post which proclaimed "Musings on E" "best of all!"