The piece is written in the form of a suite with five movements: The end of the finale contains a recapitulation of the prelude, typical of a serenade.
In fact, the work bears a close resemblance to Antonín Dvořák's String Serenade[original research?].
Cellist Joseph Hollmann, for whom the Second Cello Concerto was written, encouraged Saint-Saëns to orchestrate this suite of five pieces.
However, the composer felt that the Scherzo and Finale were too pianistic to be orchestrated, and eventually came to a decision to replace the two movements with a Gavotte and a Tarantelle, respectively.
The Romance already existed in orchestrated form because the composer once took the movement from the original suite and transcribed it for horn, for Henri Chaussier, though he modified it once again with different orchestration for the suite.