Roses and Thorns is considered, alongside the magnificent Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 34, to be one of Zarebski's most important compositional achievements. This five-part cycle was created around 1882 and published a year later by Schott in Mainz.

This collection is sometimes presented as an example of the foreshadowing of impressionism in Zarębski's work. The subtitle of this piece was Five improvisations, which clearly suggests the improvisational nature of the musical narrative.