Regarding Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Debussy wrote a version for two pianos in parallel with the orchestral version, a masterpiece from his middle period (premiered in 1894), and both were published in 1895. However, compared to the orchestral version, the two-piano version did not undergo meticulous revisions, nor were its expressions simplified. From this, it is believed that Debussy himself did not attach great importance to the two-piano version.

 On the other hand, the orchestral version of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune attracted the interest of other musicians during the composer's lifetime and has been arranged for piano. For example, Ravel published a version for piano four-hands (one piano) in 1910. Compared to the composer's own two-piano version, Ravel's arrangement more closely approximates the expression of the orchestral version. Specifically, the harp glissandos at the beginning of the orchestral version (measures 4 and 7) and the descending woodwind melody in measure 85, which were omitted in Debussy's piano version, are included in Ravel's four-hand arrangement. In 1914, the British pianist L. Borwick (1868-1925) published a solo piano version. He also made an arrangement that followed the expression of the orchestral version. While these two arrangements remain part of pianists' repertoire today, they have also laid the groundwork for new piano arrangements of the original work. Therefore, it can be said that the piano versions of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune have achieved greater fidelity to the original work's effects through arrangements by other hands.