Under the title, the challenges of this piece are stated as “Balancement de la main gauche.-Expression de la dissonance” (Swing of the left hand.-Expression of dissonance). The tempo is Andante. The left hand should be played with a sense of swing, ensuring that the notes at the end of slurs do not become heavy, yet without becoming too short like staccato. This 'swing' does not imply a lively sway; rather, it suggests imagining the unsettling quality of the left hand's first-beat notes shifting chromatically, evoking the undulation associated with the title 'Desert'. The right hand also features a mysterious melody, making extensive use of chromaticism. Suddenly, in measures 12-13 and 13-14, the melody introduces sixteenth-note movement, and through hairpin crescendos and diminuendos, the piece's only f appears momentarily. It is as if a disturbance occurs in the quiet desert. The music then quietly progresses towards the pp at the end of the piece. In the final three measures, marked pp, the left hand's swing ceases, and one should quietly listen to the dissonances created by the overlapping hands.