Although Barber is not known for his piano compositions, he nevertheless wrote a few works of importance for the instrument. His Piano Concerto, Op. 38 (1962), and Piano Sonata, Op. 26 (1949), come to mind, but the Excursions are also high-quality compositions. Indeed, they are among his most popular instrumental works, with a dozen or so recordings available by 2002. Vladimir Horowitz premiered the set, minus No. 3, on January 4, 1945, at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. The third piece was unplayed because Barber's publisher Schirmer initially left it out of the set. All the Excursions are short, the entire set lasting about 12 to 15 minutes. Each is based on a folk tune or idiom and captures some slice of Americana. The first piece, marked Un poco allegro, depicts the hustle and bustle of the city with catchy, tricky rhythms, jazzy playfulness, and motoric drive. The second piece, "In Slow Blues Tempo," has a bluesy manner to be sure, but is not imitation-Gershwin or beholden to other popular composers of the day. The music is sassy and spiky, confident in its nonchalance and stop-and-start gait. The third Excursion (Allegretto), a set of variations on The Streets of Laredo, is mainly a lullaby. The slow, quasi-Romantic manner of the theme is interrupted by jazzy, energetic variants throughout that are both playful and touching. The final piece (Allegro molto) is a barn dance, somewhat in the spirit of Copland's from Rodeo, but jazzier and more amusingly mischievous, not least to the soloist who must tackle Barber's tricky rhythms.

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