String Quartet No. 3 (Nielsen) String Quartet No. 3 (Nielsen) Carl Nielsen's String Quartet No. 3 in E flat major or Quartet for Two Violins, Viola and Cello in E flat major, Opus 14, was composed in 1897 and 1898. The third of Nielsen's four string quartets in the official series, it was first performed privately in "Vor Forening" (Our Society) on 1 May 1899 with Anton Svendsen, Ludvig Holm, Frederik Marke and Ejler Jensen as performers. In 1897 and 1898, Nielsen was a busy man. Not only was he preparing to write an opera ("Saul og David") but he spent the summers looking after
Vaghy String Quartet and Avery Fisher Hall as well as many others halls, and on radio (such as CBC Radio) and television. The quartet also performed live and on recording throughout Europe, as well as at the 1976 Summer Olympics, premiering several works. Their repertoire included Bartók, Shostakovich, Szymanowski, Ravel, and Janáček, among other 20th-century composers. The quartet premiered several works as well: John Fodi's Quartet for Strings 'Ch'ien' and Paul Crawford's String Quartet: 'La nuit étoilée' in 1974; James Montgomery's Reconnaissance in 1975; Graham George's Fuguing Music for String Quartet, James Kent's Cadenza String Quartet, and Norman Sherman's Quadron in 1976; William