Louis Spohr's reputation as a symphonist and composer of violin concertos has tended to eclipse the chamber compositions he wrote throughout his life. Spohr's early Violin Duets, Op. 3 all open with expressive slow introductions and are full of captivating technical demands including the 'Spohr staccato' (where several staccato notes are played in one bow), octave double-stopping and rapid scalar writing. Contemporaries noted that 'they reward any care lavished on them'. The Duets, WoO 21 and 22 are very early works, composed when Spohr was twelve or thirteen.