The "Three Songs" are settings of poems by Mandelstam which he wrote in exile in Voronesh before he was arrested for the second and last time. Three parallel developmental strands may be discerned in the work: that of the voice, that of the flute and the clarinet, and that of the string quartet. The music is characterized by the presence of numerous nuances, and the increased individuality of the instrumental parts. (V. Shoot)