[4] His short operas Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen and Das Nusch-Nuschi were premiered at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 1921,[2] and he was in the process of composing concertos entitled Kammermusik.

The US$1,000 that came with it enabled the composer, originally from a poor background, to acquire the Kuhhirtenturm [de] as his home from the city of Frankfurt.

[7] In a note added to the first mailing of the music in May 1923, he wrote: "Here are the three final movements of your piece and I hope that your shock will subside after perusing the score.

"[2]Once Hindemith had delivered the completed work in 1923, Wittgenstein settled his financial obligations to the composer, but, disliking the piece, he never played it.

[4][8] Fleisher had lost control of his right hand for many years, due to a neurological disorder, and played many of the works Wittgenstein had commissioned.

[9] On 2 October 2005, Fleisher played the American premiere of the work, with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt.

The third movement, a trio with a basso ostinato, in slow common time, marked "with little expression", was finished on 27 February.

[5] A reviewer noted that it mixes Bach and blues, with the piano contrasting solo woodwinds over an ostinato pizzicato bass.

9,[10] from a concert at the Verizon Hall in Philadelphia on 27 April 2008, played by an orchestra of students and teachers of the Curtis Institute of Music.

[6] It was recorded in a collection of Hindemith's complete piano concertos,[11] played by soloist İdil Biret and the Yale Symphony Orchestra conducted by Toshiyuki Shimada.