Anatoly Lyadov was born in 1855 in Saint Petersburg, Russia and died in 1914 at his country estate in Polynovka, Russia.

Lyadov came from a musical family and he began composing at a very young age. It is said that Lyadov put a lot of pressure on himself and therefore found it difficult to finish large-scale works. Fortunately, Lyadov was an excellent pianist and was able to make a name for himself as a composer of smaller piano works, described as miniatures, as well as beautiful orchestral works, such as Eight Russian Folksongs, Op. 58.

Lyadov became interested in collecting Russian folk music in his late thirties. In 1893 the Imperial Geographical Society commissioned three composers - Anatoly Lyadov, Mily Balakirev and Sergei Lyapunov - to go on field trips to the countryside to collect folksongs. The three composers collected over 300 folksongs and these were published in several volumes by the Imperial Geographical Society in 1897.

Melancholy Song – Lament is the third folksong in the set of eight. The melody is played by a solo cello and accompanied by the cello section, divided into several parts.