The title Picnic Music suggests the classical divertimento, and dinner music from a tailgate. The first movement, which is without title, is in sonata form. The second movement, Cage is Dead, is a ricercar based on the letters of the title: C A G E S (E flat) D E A D. This tribute to the late master is less serious than might be thought proper; it includes a cantus firmus from Cage's most renowned work, a scrap of the Dies Irae, and a critical commentary in the form of a variation on the subject. The name of the concluding reel, The Humors of Tremont, is a parody of similar titles in O'Neill's Music of Ireland; Tremont is a gentrifying neighborhood in Cleveland. Though the traditional melodic moves of the reel are drenched in the poteen of chromaticism, sober players are required for their execution.

Picnic Music was premiered at the Greater Cleveland ARS chapter concert in Akron, OH on May 16, 1993.

Composer Jeffrey Quick received his BM in music history from the University of Michigan in 1978, and his MMus in composition from Cleveland State University in 1991.