While this Cantabile has singing qualities as its Italian title suggests, it might have been given a dozen other names to describe its gentle melancholy. Chopin exhibited one flaw in his craft—his inability to distinguish his works with imaginative titles. Most are given generic names and a number—Ballade No. 1, Mazurka No. 19, 24 Preludes, Barcarolle, etc. This short B flat major Cantabile might have benefited from a more individual and dramatic title, for while it contains no heartrending sadness, it expresses a feeling of sorrowful longing, a mood typically found in the music of this great composer.

Written in Paris in 1834, the piece seems to begin a few measures past the opening, as if some of its music were missing from the score. The theme plunges downward at the outset, then rises only to gently descend. Chopin masterfully varies the melody on its second appearance, after which he demurely pulls back to make the music fade. This piece lasts but a minute and has rarely been performed and recorded over the years. Thanks to many "complete" Chopin sets, it has been gaining some exposure since the latter twentieth century.

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