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
String Quartet (Elgar) by Adolph Brodsky, in honour of the promise Elgar had made years earlier to write a work for them. However, the members of the Brodsky Quartet were now around 70 years of age. The Quartet's public premiere was given by Albert Sammons and W. H. Reed, violins; Raymond Jeremy, viola; and Felix Salmond, cello on 21 May 1919, at the Wigmore Hall, London, the Piano Quintet in A minor also receiving its premiere on this occasion. The group was billed as the "British String Quartet". (Some sources say the London String Quartet gave the premiere, but Albert Sammons was the