“Peace Piece” continues with its expression of “springtime, lilac poignancy,” as Gene Lees would appraise, by way of a simple arpeggiated figure in the right hand. What I find striking is Evans’s use of dynamics: adjusting the timbre of the line by its loudness (or, more to the point, its softness); the B3 on the second beat is barely audible as it moves to the root of the G7sus chord. It’s not unlike how the colors of Monet’s Impression, Sunrise seem to melt into one another.
Evans returns to the thematic material of the open-fifths in the second measure of this excerpt. A stark entrance with a sforzando introduces contrast to the previous bar and serves as a harbinger for the turbulence that lies ahead. The repetitive phrase that includes the C5 – G5 dyad, with its preceding grace note, adds a harshness to the line. Evans propels the rhythm by using a triplet figure on the forth beat and a syncopated eighth note-quarter note statement on the downbeat of the third bar; all the while, the left-hand ostinato continues to softly lay the harmonic framework.
The feeling of relative repose carries throughout the remaining measures of the example: Evans crafts a contour that rises and falls in concert with his dynamic alterations. The open-fifths theme, some with added grace notes, comes to an end on the downbeat of measure seven; we also have a somewhat of a respite with an imperfect, authentic cadence (G7 – C add9) in the penultimate bar.
The section is bookended with in the inclusion of an arpeggiated figure. Here, Evans uses the tonic chord rather than the dominant as seen in the opening of the excerpt. The phrase reaches its apex as the sextuplet drives towards the pitch of G6.
This Quiet Fire 