The quartet, Op. 14, was composed in 1897–98, while Nielsen was running Thygesminde, the farm of his parents-in-law near Kolding, Jutland. He presumably started on the quartet during summer 1897, finishing the first movement in December. After half a year he resumed composing, though not without problems. It is not known when the work was completed. Nielsen and the Grieg families were close friends, but beyond this none of the sources shed more light on the composer's reason for dedicating it to Edvard Grieg. See more about this work at The Royal Library