Before Winter was first heard at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1982, under the direction of Philip Brunelle, the church choir director. It was commissioned by Bruce Carlson of the Schubert Club in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Both the composer, Libby Larsen, and the poet, Arthur Mampel, attended the performance.

The text for this work was first published in a chapbook entitled Silk Over Wood, that contained poetry by Arthur Mampel, who resides in Seattle, Washington. His seventh book of poetry appeared in September 2000 under the title “Antlers In the Treetop/New and Selected Poems by A.G. Mampel."