Glinka's Valse-Fantaisie in B minor exists in three versions: the initial piano version from 1839, the small orchestra version of 1845, and the large orchestra version of the score written shortly before the composer's death in 1856. The formal outlines of the work are essentially the same in all three versions—a quiet start, an accelerating development, and an ecstatic conclusion—but the scope of the work grew larger as scoring grew richer. Glinka originally entitled the work Valse when it was a piano piece. As the work became larger and more opulent in its first version for orchestra, he called it Valse-Fantaisie, and as the work's tempo increased in the second version for orchestra, he called it Valse-Scherzo. As with nearly all of Glinka's larger orchestral works, the themes and orchestration are of crucial significance in the development of the piece; that is, Glinka does not so much develop the softly descending initial theme as he repeats it in ever-more-shimmering and voluptuous orchestral colors. The result is one of his most beguiling and enchanting larger orchestral works.

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