Fresh from the premiere of his second String Quartet, Pann was driving up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco and stopped at the famous eatery in the Big Sur region, Nepenthe. The views of the coastline from the restaurant are legendary, and Pann was captivated by the atmosphere out on the back deck. When he thought to research the name, he found that "nepenthe" was also an ancient medicine which would dispel sorrows, ease the mind, and impart a more positive outlook. This led him to compose Nepenthe, a short string quartet, as a gift to the Takacs Quartet, the forces behind the premiere of his 2nd String Quartet.