String Quartet No. 2 (Nielsen) String Quartet No. 2 (Nielsen) Carl Nielsen's String Quartet No. 2 in F minor or Quartet for Two Violins, Viola and Cello in F minor, Opus 5, was composed in 1890, partly in Denmark but mostly in Germany where the composer was travelling on a stipend. The second of Nielsen's four string quartets in the official series, it was first performed privately for Joseph Joachim on 18 November 1890 at the Hochschule für Ausübende Tonkunst in Berlin. Nielsen reported in an interview that he was inspired to write the first movement of his second quartet when the theme suddenly occurred
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