Ruperto Chapí wrote El barquillero for Madrid in 1900, a género chico piece in one act named after the boy who sells wafer rolls in the street. Chapí had trained as a symphonist and never quite stopped being one; even in a short zarzuela the orchestral writing is more worked than the form required. This romanza is the score's lyric centre, and it survived the disappearance of the theatres the piece was written for by becoming a recital number.