The genre of "étude," by its very name, primarily aims at finger training. However, pianist-composers born particularly after the 1810s, from the 1830s to the 1840s, sought to imbue études with expressive elements, adhering to certain styles, rather than merely limiting them to finger exercises. In Paris during the 1840s, many works titled "étude de style" (style étude) or "étude de genre" (genre étude) were composed by French composers. Prudent's collection of pieces also reflects this trend. The word "genre" in the title is likely a transference from the art term "tableau de genre" (literally: "genre painting"), which refers to genre paintings depicting people's lives and landscapes. It is said that its origin lies in the French Louis dynasty, which regarded Greek-Roman and Italian Renaissance art as the norm, and disparagingly referred to works depicting mundane subjects as "ce genre de peinture" (this kind of painting). Thus, "genre étude" refers to études with more popular, so-called salon-painting-like, approachable content. Performed today is the first piece, "A Tale of Days Gone By," from Prudent's 12 Études de Genre, published in his late twenties and demonstrating his musical maturity. It takes a clear three-part form. Following an introduction, a beautiful, opera-aria-like melody is sung. The introductory passage is used again in the coda. It is dedicated to Camille Pleyel, the second-generation head of Pleyel & Co.