The pieces written according to danceable forms, especially the waltzes, were an important part of the works that the young Granados performed in his time as a caf pianist in Barcelona.Given the quality of his much-praised improvisations, it is likely that he reverted to all or most of the music he played in cafes rather than playing finished compositions.For this reason, it is possible that Granados would have offered works of the spirit ofLa sirenaorCarezzainstead of pieces as sophisticated and of considerable technical difficulty as theLove Lettersor thePoetic Waltzes, in which its author achieved the stylization of the genre by transforming them into works self-inspired.

The waltzes by Granados reveal different aspects of their connection to the romantic movement.They hardly contain features of the popular Spanish theme, but rather show the influence that composers such as Schubert or Chopin exerted on their author.

It is not possible to know with certainty the date of composition of the waltzes because the sources from which they have been extracted, with the exception ofFour notes(1888) andValse de concert, published in 1914, lack this type of indications, but it is assumed that they were all written before 1900.