Akaroa reflects Pruden's preference for simplicity and clarity in its fresh impressionist play of light and shade and bright warm colour harmonies. The first version of this work, for jazz quartet, was entitled Russell Square, and the orchestral version was originally entitled The Bay at Dusk, only to become Akaroa when Pruden settled on the idea of depicting the picturesque French settlement on Banks Peninsula as part of a "South Island" suite. Accordingly, he "Frenchified" the score by inserting sly references to his own Dances of Brittany.