Svendsen's Romance in G (Op. 26) for viola and piano (orginally for violin and orchestra). When Johan Severin Svendsen composed his Romance in two days in the autumn of 1881 at the suggestion of his publisher, he probably had no idea that he was creating his most internationally popular work. The Romance appeared in almost 70 different printed editions during Svendsen's lifetime and is one of the most popular works in the Romantic repertoire.