Upon returning to Cologne, Stockhausen resumed work on "Gesang der Jünglinge" and then composed the wind quintet "Zeitmaße" and "Klavierstück XI", before turning to working-out the details of "Gruppen", which occupied him for all of 1957. The premiere of the work took place in the Rheinsaal of the Kölner Messe in Cologne-Deutz, as part of the WDR's concert series Musik der Zeit, on 24 March 1958 with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stockhausen (orchestra I), Bruno Maderna (orchestra II), and Pierre Boulez (orchestra III). The score is dedicated to Herbert Eimert, director at that time of the WDR electronic music studio. "Gruppen" was performed twice on the programme, with the world premiere of Pierre Boulez's Third Piano Sonata, performed by the composer, in between.