The Lyric Pieces for Piano op. 74 were written at the suggestion of the publishing house Breitkopf & Hrtel, for whom Jean Sibelius was to compose five piano pieces. Sibelius was allowed to send the pieces individually as they were completed, but by July 1914, only four pieces had been finalized. Thus, opus 74 was published in December 1914 without the fifth piece.

The programmatic titles Ekloge, Soft West Wind, At the Dance and In the Old Home are indicative of the character of the pieces, which depict brief momentary impressions. Soft West Wind is probably the best-known piece in the collection; during Sibelius lifetime, it was played in public by the pianist Sigrid Sundgren-Schnevoigt, among others.