Originally published as a piece for cello and piano, Opus 78, the composer later included an orchestrated version featuring a flute solo as incidental music for Maurice Maeterlinck's play, "Pelléas et Mélisande."  It seems that composers were fascinated by this play, which premiered in 1893; other contributors to its music were Schoenberg, Sibelius and Debussy.

The MP3 solo has a two-note lead-in, each half a measure in duration.