Nothing is known of how the Adagio for string quartet came to be written. It would, however, appear from the manuscripts that Sibelius originally intended it as the slow movement of his quartet in B flat major (1890). This would explain why, for example, it does not have a final climax, simply ending with a recapitulation and cadenza.

Why, then, did Sibelius reject the Adagio as not being suitable as the slow movement of his quartet? It was a question not of quality but of the style, which h...