The idea for these pieces came from Nikolay Bernard, editor of the Saint Petersburg journal Nuvellist. In January 1882, Bernard sent a letter to Tchaikovsky asking him to write for Nuvellist, "at the subscribers' request", six pieces for piano; if the composer was agreeable, four of them should have the titles Nocturne, Dreams, Salon Waltz and Russian Dance. After sorting out an issue with his publisher, the composer wrote the pieces Op. 51 (TH 143; ČW 175 to 180) in August and September 1882.
Of the titles suggested by Nikolay Bernard, Tchaikovsky retained only one, Valse de Salon, which was published as the first number. All the pieces were published by Pyotr Jurgenson in November 1882.
No. 4 was a revised version of the Nathalie-Valse written in 1878. In 1882 the composer rewrote and extended this waltz, and changed the title to Natha-Valse, giving it a virtuosic style more suited to concert performance
Original publisher info and plate numbers omitted in reprint Includes footnotes in Russian (Cyrillic). Nathalie-Valse (the original version of Natha-Valse, No.4) is on p.32-33.
