Grieg was inspired to write his Piano Concerto in A minor, op.16, as a student when he heard Clara Schumann play her husband Robert's Piano Concerto in Leipzig in 1858. He became a great admirer of Schumann. Grieg chose the same key as Schumann, A minor, for his own Piano Concerto, which was written 10 years later in Denmark. When Grieg met Franz Liszt in Rome in 1870, the latter played his Piano Concerto - a great honour and joy for Grieg - and the Piano Concerto and the two Peer Gynt Suites are among the most beautiful and popular piano works of Romantic music.

Margarita Höhenrieder has known the Icelandic composer Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson and his music for several years. She became acquainted with his piano pieces through his sister, her long-time friend, the pianist Anna Ragnarsdottir-Hoffmann. She was also the wife of her former teacher and well-known piano virtuoso Ludwig Hoffmann. Höhenrieder herself was looking for several pieces specifically for the left hand at the time: she was planning joint performances entitled "2 linke Hände " (2 left hands) together with the painter Bernd Zimmer. While Bernd Zimmer painted a picture live in front of an audience using only his left hand, Margarita Höhenrieder played pieces for the left hand. It is a creative and unique project. Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson wrote the left-hand piece Stilla for her, which for the artist on a trip to Iceland was a fascinating and mysterious reflection of the mostly light green moss-covered volcanic landscape with its glaciers and the endless expanse and silence.