This Nocturne's mournful principal melody works perfectly on a legato instrument such as the cello, even though it was originally intended for the piano. Tchaikovsky wrote it as the fourth of his Six Morceaux, Op. 19, a piano suite quickly tossed off for some ready cash. Fifteen years later, Tchaikovsky orchestrated it for a performance at a Paris concert of his music; also on the program were the Pezzo capriccioso for cello and orchestra and the cello version of his Andante Cantabile. This description applies to the version for cello and orchestra, but the transcription's musical substance doesn't differ at all from the piano original. Marked Andante sentimentale, the Nocturne begins with a haunting cello soliloquy interrupted by a more flowing, less crepuscular mid-section. A miniature cello cadenza leads to a reprise of the first section, the cello singing the melody as before, but now with a more ornate accompaniment, the flute providing an involved countersubject.

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