The composition of Eros Piano was inspired in part by the piano concerto riverrun by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. In an interview with the author Edward Strickland, Adams said "I encountered Takemitsu's riverrun, a rather modest piece about fifteen minutes long for piano and orchestra that he wrote for Peter Serkin, who played it in several American cities several years ago, but nobody seemed to have a very strong response. The English performance I found extraordinarily beautiful and listened to it many times and had the response I often do of writing a piece of my own in order to exorcise it." He added, "Eros Piano is a gloss on riverrun, as Harmonielehre is a gloss on various Romantic composers."[3]
Eros Piano was also influenced by the music of other American composers such as the jazz pianist Bill Evans, for whom Adams and Takemitsu had a shared fondness. The composer described the piece as "a quiet, dreamy soliloquy for piano, played against a soft, lush fabric of orchestral screens and clusters." The piece is written in a single movement and has a duration of roughly 15 minutes in performance.[1]
The work is scored for solo piano and a small orchestra comprising two flutes (both doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets (2nd doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, two horns, one percussionist (vibraphone, crotales, and maracas), optional keyboard sampler, and strings.[1]
