The work was first performed at a benefit concert in Pavlovsk on September 5, 1858, as part of a tour of Russia that Strauss was conducting.
In keeping with the vogue then current in Russia for the French language, the work was entitled as Mes adieux à St. Pétersbourg (My Farewell to St. Petersburg).
"[1] However, despite the public and critical acclaim for the composition, Abschied von St. Petersburg did not remain long in the Strauss Orchestra's repertoire,[1] and it is not very well known nowadays.
In keeping with the work's title, the waltz has a rather mournful quality about it: the composition begins with a passage for solo cello,[1] which soon gives way to the melancholic opening waltz theme, a mood that is enhanced by the use of counter-melodies in the cello line.
The composition does not end with a drumroll or flourish, as most of Strauss' other waltzes do, but instead fades away into the distance with a trumpet call, probably meant to symbolise the composer's carriage as it drives him away from Pavlovsk and St.