Liszt greatly contributed to arranging and widely popularizing the works of other composers. For example,Mozart,Rossini,Mendelssohn,Wagner and others. In his performance activities, he also seemed to have gained popularity by incorporating improvisational arrangements of popular local music.

These arrangements account for approximately half of Liszt's piano works. This piece is also one of those arrangements, based on the famous waltz from Act II of Gounod's opera Faust. It is arranged almost exactly as the original, and the brilliant atmosphere is splendidly reproduced. It was arranged in 1861, dedicated to Baron Michels, and published in 1862.