Bruckner's superior Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. requested Bruckner for a string quartet. Instead of a string quartet, Bruckner composed a viola quintet, starting the composition in December 1878 and ended it on 12 July 1879. Bruckner dedicated the Quintet to Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria. When looking at the score, Hellmesberger found the scherzo too challenging for the group to perform. In response, Bruckner wrote a less demanding, eight-minute long Intermezzo in the same key as alternative to the scherzo. The first three movements were premiered by the Winkler Quartet with Franz Schalk joining on second viola on November 17, 1881 in Vienna. It was not until 1885 that the Hellmesberger Quartet played the Quintet with the original scherzo, Hermann Kupka joining on second viola. Duke Emanuel was pleased by the composition and gave Bruckner a diamond pin. In all, there were 23 performances of the Quintet in Bruckner's lifetime.