The liner notes to this release have the title 'Chamber music as a formative process', alluding to the fact that the works included were all composed before Nielsen turned 25. Indeed, some of them were even written during his time as a member of the military band in the little town of Odense, before going to the Conservatory in Copenhagen and, later, becoming the renowned composer that we know today. It is therefore not surprising if the uncertainties of a young man at times shine through in these scores, as do the various influences he was exposed to in the process of becoming a composer. Mozart is there, and Beethoven, and Mendelssohn - and the infectious joy of a budding artist putting his musical ideas onto paper!
The foremost defender of these scores is Georgios Demertzis, who plays on every track on the disc; on his own, with the support of pianist Maria Asteriadou and in his role as first violinist of the New Hellenic Quartet. On a previously released companion disc (BIS-CD-1284) Demertzis plays Nielsen's mature works for violin with and without piano. His and Asteriadou's performances received high praise from the reviewers - the critic in The Strad called the disc 'highly stimulating' with the added description: ‘Come with me, Nielsen seems to say, and Demertzis follows with a will.’
