It was the first short story Hoffmann published when it appeared in the 15 February 1809 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung.
Whilst the pair sit in the Tiergarten listening to the performance of a waltz, they begin conversing.
A few months later, as the opera Armide (composed by Gluck) is being performed, the men meet again.
Both are unsatisfied with how the piece is performed, and the mysterious man decides to show the narrator how Armide should be played.
The narrator is given the task of turning over the pages of the virtuoso, but the paper is empty of any notation.