Prokofiev’s compositional process habitually involved the jotting down of musical ideas as they occured to him, to be combined later. The composer’s form of spontaneous inspiration seems to have enabled him to produce, in Visions Fugitives, a set of self-contained miniatures, perfectly shaped and coherent, yet comprising a logical sequence when played as a whole.

The simplicity and transparency of the writing gives us an insight into the interpretation of Prokofiev’s music generally. The study of his shorter works enables us to understand the importance of clarity and rhythmic discipline in the performance of the later ones. The necessity for these qualities is immediately apparent in Visions Fugitives.