The Stranger is titled after the novel of the same name by the French existentialist philosopher and writer Albert Camus. The piece seems to capture some of the general mood of the story, with its underlying feeling of melancholy and sense of inevitability. Since the music is written in an even eighth-note style, with either a contemporary classical or a Latin rhythmic feeling, the string section is not required to phrase in a jazz or swing style. The use of light percussion rather than a drum set makes the arrangement ideal for acoustic performance, without amplification.