Only the title page has survived from the composition for large orchestra named Nocturno (Roses in the Night), H 96, subtitled Symphonic Dance No. 2. Nocturno has the same title as the second poem from the cycle Les Chansons de Bilitis (1894), Roses Dans la Nuit, by the French poet and writer Pierre Louÿs (1870–1925). The title page of the work contains the Czech text of this poem written in Martinů's hand. The collection was published in translation by Jaroslav Pasovský as Písně Bilitiny in 1910 in Prague by František Adámek.
Between 1897 and 1898 Claude Debussy also composed a song cycle of the same name to the texts of Les Chansons de Bilitis.
Jana Burdová, 2024