The nineteenth century was the age of the piano. The newly developed instrument, decorated in the domestic taste of the time and strengthened by the use of an iron frame, making maintenance much easier, proved an admirable centre of home entertainment. The piano enjoyed also a social cachet. Young ladies with any pretension to gentility were expected to play the instrument, which had the additional advantage of being self-sufficient and a useful adjunct in the accompaniment of singers or other instrumentalists.

Composers and music publishers were quick to realise the importance of the new market for short piano pieces that were not too demanding. Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska’s well known Maiden’s Prayer was an aptly named response to just such a maiden need for playable and attractive repertoire, ensuring the otherwise unknown composer a measure of immortality. The genre produced attractive compositions from more distinguished composers than this.