Papillons, Op. 2, is a suite of piano pieces written in 1831 by Robert Schumann. Meaning 'butterflies,' Papillons begins with a 6 measure introuction before launching into a variety of dance-like movements. Each dance movement is unrelated to the preceding ones, until the finale, which is tonally similar to the introduction. This movement uses the theme of the traditional Grossvater Tanz (Grandfather Dance) (a different version of which was used by Tchaikovsky in the Christmas party scene from his ballet The Nutcracker). Papillons is meant to represent a masque ball scene from a novel, with each movement giving the impression of a different character at that ball. The genre is character piece/suite. It was written in Germany during the romantic period.