The opera was composed at the end of 1928 (finished on the first day of 1929), and was premiered at the Oper Frankfurt on 1 February 1930, with William Steinberg conducting Herbert Graf's production.

The libretto may indeed be a contemporary comedy of manners, but the music is complex, the angular vocal-lines and large orchestra creating a frightening whirlwind of fury.

Schoenberg wrote: "I have proved in my operas Von heute auf morgen and Moses und Aron that every expression and characterization can be produced with the style of free dissonance.

The score calls for: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 4 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 saxophones, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, mandolin, guitar, harp, piano, celesta, strings.

[5] The 1996 recording was the basis for a film version (Du jour au lendemain) directed by the French filmmaking duo of Daniele Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub.