The variations were composed in the time leading up to his admission to an asylum for the insane and are infrequently played or recorded today.
Wolf-Dieter Seiffert wrote in the preface to Thema mit Variationen (Geistervariation) that at this time of his life, Schumann believed that he was surrounded by spirits who played him music, both "wonderful" and "hideous".
Seiffert goes on to write that on 17 or 18 February 1854, Schumann wrote down a theme he said was dictated to him by voices like those of angels.
While he was still working on the composition, on 27 February he suddenly threw himself half clothed into the freezing Rhine river, from which he was rescued and returned home.
The next day, he completed the work and sent the manuscript to his wife, Clara, who had left him the night before, on the advice of a doctor.