This work is an arrangement by the composer himself from the film music Madame Bovary (Op. 128), dedicated to director Jean Renoir. Please also refer to my related article on its companion piece, Album de Madame Bovary (Op. 128b). The dreamy and sentimental musical character is precisely like a scene from a classical literary film, deeply evocative. While the piano version does not specifically title each piece, the orchestral version of this work has "No. 1 Romantique," "No. 2 Nostalgique," and "No. 3 Éphémère (fleetingly)." In France, there is a tradition dating back to Chabrier's time, where composers themselves or others would create "Three Waltzes" fashioned in the style of a sandaibashi (three-topic story). (This is a well-known anecdote among those who play two-piano works: regarding Chabrier's Trois valses romantiques, Cortot supposedly assigned an adjective to each piece, claiming they were portraits of three women. Many composers have written "Three Waltzes" since then.) It is likely that this tradition was followed here as well.

• No. 1 in B-flat major (no key signature), 3/4 time. Dotted half note = 60.
• No. 2 in G-flat major (no key signature), 3/4 time. Dotted half note = 60.
• No. 3 in D major (no key signature), 3/4 time. Dotted half note = 60.