In addition to the cycle of piano polkas, Martinů also composed several other pieces for pianist Karel Šolc, which are unknown today. This was a five-part cycle of piano compositions, in which Šolc was particularly impressed by the Prelude in E-flat minor in 12/8 time, composed around 1917–1918 [Harry Halbreich tends to date it to 1919]. He performed it for the first time at a concert of František Ondříček, whose piano accompanist he was.
Jaroslav Mihule, Martinů – osud skladatele, Prague: Karolinum, 2002, p. 64, 78.
The premiere of the composition took place during violinist František Ondříček's Grand Concert on October 24, 1919, in the Grand Hall of the National House in Vinohrady. This was Ondříček's first performance after a serious injury. Violinist Ella Ondříčková-Stillerová and pianist Karel Šolc also performed at the concert.