Dmitri Shostakovich was already earning money as a pianist at a young age, as an accompanist for silent movies, for example. Up until the 1960s, he appeared in public as a pianist, usually playing his own works. Like Maurice Ravel, Shostakovich also made orchestral versions of his own piano pieces. The movements of the six-part suite of Dances of the Dolls, on the other hand, composed in 1952 for young piano pupils, initially existed as orchestral works from film, stage and ballet music of the 1930s. The Lyric Waltz is the fifth number from the Third Ballet Suite, which, in turn, is taken from the third act of the 1935 ballet “The Limpid Stream”, Op. 39. The Romance and Polka are also taken from this ballet. The Gavotte, on the other hand, is from the Third Ballet Suite. The First Ballet Suite is the source of the Waltz-Scherzo that bears the subtitle “The Little Ballerina”. The final dance is the only original composition of this distinctive suite. Lyrischer Walzer (Lyric Waltz) Gavotte Romanze (Romance) Polka Walzer-Scherzo (Waltz-Scherzo) Drehorgel (Hurdy-Gurdy) Tanz (Dance)