The piece was composed in the course of one month in 1869, in stark contrast to Balakirev's usual habit of taking sometimes years to complete a work. In the score he noted that he started the work on 9/21 August in Moscow, and completed it on 13/25 September in Saint Petersburg. Balakirev revised the work in 1902. It is divided into three distinct parts, an opening ("Allegro agitato"), which introduces the main theme, a middle ("Tranquillo – Andantino espressivo") that introduces an entirely new theme (both described in the above quote), and a third ("Allegro vivo – Presto furioso"), which returns to the main theme.