In 1918 Arnold Schoenberg founded the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances) in Vienna. At the age of forty-four, Schoenberg was widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of his time.

After his experiences in the ultra-conservative Viennese music life, culminating in the horrors of the infamous Scandal-concert of 31 March 1913, Schoenberg must have felt that the time had come to introduce a different way of presenting new music to an interested audience. With Schoenberg as president and a board of nineteen friends and students, an innovative format was developed: weekly concerts that would be open only to members of the Verein, with critics not allowed and audible approval or disapproval not permitted. The programmes would remain secret until the evening of the concert.

Compositions would be presented at the highest level of performance standards. They would be repeated preferably two to four times during the season, sometimes even played twice during the same concert, to facilitate better understanding. This disc contains some of the works of Gustav Mahler who was part of this set and whose works were performed in this intimate setting.