Summer Nocturnes has a plein-air feel: the harmonisation of delicate colours combined with a chic salon style, showcases Pruden's broadly impressionistic technique. Pianist Len Cameron, who attended the 1951 School as a choral tenor, found Pruden's music "iridescent and immediate, needing no explanation"; the composer played percussion and directed from the piano. We know that this work and Evening Music were completed at the very last minute.  Lilburn said that Pruden's orchestral parts were invariably written out by the composers' group far into the night, so they could be ready for rehearsals. Evidence of this is borne out in the extant parts for Evening Music, written in various hands (including Lilburn's). Len Cameron recalled that for Summer Nocturnes, Pruden was locked in a room and supplied with countless cups of weak tea in order to finish off the score.