Jörg Widmann composed the three-movement work in 2016 in memory of the Swiss flautist Aurèle Nicolet. The world premiere took place as part of a concert in Freiburg which was dedicated to Nicolet who had died shortly before; the interpreter was Emmanuel Pahud, one of his pupils. The versatility of the work shows, for example, in its obbligato instrumentation of bass flute and bossed gong – both instruments require only one additional player.