This work is an arrangement of the 1920 Songs (5) Without Words, for voice and piano. Because of their wordless, songful character, the five pieces adapted well to violin and piano. In fact, when the collection is performed or recorded today, it is unusually in the violin/piano version. Prokofiev fashioned this arrangement at the behest of violinist Pawel Kochanski, adding harmonies and pizzicato writing for the violin. The composer dedicated Nos. 1, 3, and 4 to Kochanski, No. 2 to Cecilia Hansen, and No. 5 to the iconic Joseph Szigeti.

The five pieces are only identified by their tempo marking. The first, Andante, is dreamy and lovely in the outer sections, featuring a wistful, delicate theme, a mixture of ethereality and melancholy. The middle section contrasts with the outer portions in its tenseness and muscularity. The second piece, Lento—ma non troppo, is brighter, at times playful—especially in the piano accompaniment and in the middle section. But its main theme is also somewhat otherworldly as it soars serenely amid cloudy skies.

The third item, Animato—ma non allegro, opens stormily with a melody that yearns and frets anxiously. The music settles, and once more enters into an ethereal, ghostly realm. The turbulence from the opening returns, however, and the piece ends quietly but ambivalently. No. 4, Allegretto leggero e scherzando, is playful and bright throughout, featuring a catchy melody with an insouciant bounce, quite in the spirit of Golliwog's Cakewalk, without in any way sounding imitative of that Debussy gem.

The final piece, Andante non troppo, features a beautiful theme not far removed in character and style from that in No. 1. The middle section is sassy and divulges some of Prokofiev's bad-boy sarcasm in the piano writing. The main theme returns for a dramatic reappearance, but, just as the listener expects the music to fade and end, the melody is heard once more, delicately in nearly the highest register of the violin.

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