The aging Saint-Saëns, recovering from the arduous task of writing the world's first film score (for a silent costume drama called The Assassination of the Duke of Guise) went to his favorite vacation destination, North Africa and composed this sixteen-minute single-movement piece in Luxor, Egypt during December, 1909. It was originally a single-movement piano trio, written as a memorial for Mme. J-Henry Carruette. There is evidence that Saint-Saëns intended it from the beginning as a duo concerted piece with orchestra. However, the orchestration (for a standard Romantic orchestra) is a direct transcription of the original piano part. It is a completely Romantic work, with a predominantly lyrical flavor, very attractive, but the product of a time when its style was well behind the times. It was premiered by Eugene Ysaÿe (violin) and Josph Hollmann, cello, and first playing in London in 1910. One mustn't make the mistake of supposing that one of the string soloists represents the poet and the other the muse. Correspondence shows that the title was thought up by Saint-Saëns' publisher, Jacques Durand, to enhance the work's commercial value, well after Saint-Saëns completed it. Despite the difficulty of the writing of the two solo parts, the work is not intended as a virtuoso piece; Saint-Saëns himself described it as "a conversation between the two instruments instead of a debate between two virtuosos."

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