The compositions of Dresden composer Kurt Beythien (1897–1974) were already well regarded in the 1920s and 1930s. The wind quintet presented here was conceived in 1925, though initially as a wind sextet scored for flute, oboe, two clarinets, horn and bassoon. That version premiered in 1926, but critics were not entirely won over. Beythien subsequently reworked the piece for wind quintet, and this version premiered in 1927. A distinctive feature of this version is the use of an English horn instead of the oboe in the second movement.
The work was performed frequently during the 1930s. Beythien's estate contains a collection of reviews from across Germany as well as from Prague and New York. The Dresden State Opera's First Wind Quintet wrote of the piece:
"… We have always performed Kurt Beythien's wind quintet with great success, both on our concert tours and here at home. … This beautiful work is certainly an enrichment of our wind chamber music repertoire."
On 19 April 1939, the wind quintet of the Berlin State Opera — Georg Zell (oboe), Adolf Mützelburg (clarinet), Robert Pawlik (horn), Herbert Wonneberger (bassoon) and flutist Oskar Fischer — performed this work.
