This is a musical microcosm of Paris, the tumultuous capital under Napoleon's reign, around 1810. From magnificent opera scenes favored by the rulers, to street songs and popular ditties sung on street corners, and valiant marches of people seeking freedom, all are woven into a medley by Bochsa's brilliant skill, forming a tapestry of varying tempos and dynamics. Bochsa had already established his reputation as the foremost composer-harpist and pianist of his time, and, enjoying Napoleon's favor, served both his first wife, Empress Joséphine, and subsequently his second wife, Empress Marie Louise, thus operating close to the center of power.

The melodies featured in this work include:

• "Démophoon" (Cherubini)
• "Le Calife de Bagdad" (Boieldieu)
• "Le joli ruisseau" (Henri-Dominique)
• "Semiramide" (Paisiello)
• "La Cachette" (French March)
• "The Marriage of Figaro" (Mozart)
• "Partant pour la Syrie" (Hortense de Beauharnais)
• "Le Calife de Bagdad" (Boieldieu)
• "Démophoon" (Cherubini)

Among these, "Partant pour la Syrie", accompanied by brilliant variations, was composed by Hortense de Beauharnais, Empress Joséphine's daughter from a previous marriage, in tribute to her stepfather Napoleon's Egyptian campaign (1798), and was a song everyone hummed at the time.

Dedicated to Mesdames de Kerverssau et de Cillart.

Although it is a duo for harp and piano, it is also a legitimate piano duo work, as explicitly stated on the cover: "This Duo can be performed on two Pianos" (On peut exécuter ce Duo à deux Pianos.).