A fragment from the protagonist's lines at the beginning of Act 3 of Griboyedov's famous comedy Woe from Wit—'They are hoarse-voiced ones, hangmen, bassoons...'—is quoted as an epigraph. Furthermore, given that this piece was later arranged for four bassoons (Op. 12bis) and is entirely written in a four-part texture, it can be assumed that the instrument was kept in mind to some extent. In the main section, a two-part theme characterized by staccato and leaping intervals is played, emerging from an accompaniment of crisp staccato and appoggiaturas. The contrasting middle section evokes a sense of solemnity through chorale-like harmonic progressions.

Dedicated to Nikolai Tcherepnin (1873–1945), the renowned mentor who tutored Prokofiev at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.