Description

Carl Nielsen composed his Fantasy Pieces for Oboe and Piano between 1889 and 1890. At that time, he had recently secured a position as a violinist with the Royal Danish Orchestra and had already achieved recognition with his String Suite Op. 1, both as a composer and conductor. Numerous sketches and manuscripts reflect his dedicated efforts in creating these contrasting works for Oboe, which were published in 1890 as his Opus 2.

The two movements, Romance and Humoreske, are dedicated to Olivo Krause, an oboist in the royal orchestra. Krause's exquisite tone and exceptional technique likely contributed significantly to the enthusiastic reception of these pieces by both the public and critics during their premiere in March 1891.