This orchestral miniature dates from the early period of Glazunov's composition professorship at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Many of his works at this time were conceived as exemplars and case studies for his students and it is tempting to include this work in such a category. It is an extremely well crafted work, with surprisingly rich harmonic textures and structural subtleties for such a brief work and relies on a central romantic motif for its instant appeal. First performed under the composer's baton in St. Petersburg in 1902, it is a good example of Glazunov's drive to bring Russian nationalism and European Romanticism into synchronicity.

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