The first reference he to himself composing is in a letter from August 1883 in which he writes that he composed a trio and was working on another: "They are rather poor, but it is nice to have something to do on rainy days."
Det første skriftlige vidnesbyrd om at han selv komponerede, findes i et brev fra august 1883, hvori han skriver, at han at komponeret en trio og arbejdede på en anden: "De er ret sølle, men det er rart at have noget at lave på regnfulde dage."