In 1914 Schönberg spent his summer vacation in Upper Bavaria. The painter Gabriele Münter, friend and muse of Wassily Kandinsky, had purchased a house in Murnau in 1909.

“Very beautiful view of Murnau and of the lake from some windows. Beautiful balcony. Rooms on the east (Murnau) and south sides (mountains), important for cold Bavaria. Through pleasant parks and woods to the lake. Many rabbits! N. B. for the younger generation!! Meadows, solitary hills, woods, where deer often appear and sing beautifully.” (Wassily Kandinsky to Arnold Schönberg, May 12, 1914)

A sketch by Kandinsky illustrates the surroundings.

Two openings of movements for wind quintet and piano drafted while in the midst of an idyllic countryside originated around the time when Schönberg composed the Four Orchestral Songs, op. 22.