The piece received its premiere at the Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen on 11 February 1918, with Nielsen conducting Orchestra of the Music Society (Musikforeningen).

As late as 23 January 1918, in a letter to Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar, Nielsen explained that although he had included Pan and Syrinx in his concert on 11 February, he had not yet written a single note.

It appears, however, that he had been thinking about the piece for some time, ever since he and his wife Anne Marie had discussed Ovid's Metamorphoses the previous year, inspiring him to compose the music.

Writing in Politken, Charles Kjerulf first alluded to its "Gallic, quite Debussyesque" quality before praising its feeling of renewal, development and mastery.

In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when the god's frustrated breath blew across them.