Visions fugitives, Op. 22

Visions fugitives, Op. 22, are a series of short piano pieces composed by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) between 1915 and 1917. They were premiered by Prokofiev on April 15, 1918 in Petrograd, Soviet Union. They were written individually, many for specific friends of Prokofiev's, and he originally referred to them as his "doggies" because of their "bite". In August 1917, Prokofiev played them for Russian poet Konstantin Balmont, and others, at the home of a mutual friend. Balmont was inspired to compose a sonnet on the spot, called "a magnificent improvisation" by Prokofiev who named the pieces "Mimolyotnosti" from these lines in Balmont's poem: "In every fleeting vision I see worlds, Filled with the fickle play of rainbows". A French-speaking friend at the house, Kira Nikolayevna, immediately provided a French translation for the pieces: Visions Fugitives. Prokofiev often performed only a couple of them at a time as encores at the end of his performances.