 After the premiere of "Les Millions d'Arléquin" in 1900, plans were underway by the music publisher Zimmermann to issue Riccardo Drigo's score in both piano reduction and orchestral partition.Riccardo Drigo recounts in his memoirs of how his colleagues urged the composer to dedicate his score to the Empress Alexandra.This required the composer to submit a request for the dedication to the Minister of the Imperial Court, which brought about a lengthy correspondence by a commission set up to investigate whether or not the composer's character and background were worthy of his offering a dedication to a Russian Empress.