Dvorák’s Serenade in E major for string orchestra is one of his most popular and frequently played works. It was written in the spring of 1875, when he had just experienced his first successes at the conductor’s podium and had received a state arts scholarship. The score and parts were published by Bote & Bock, Berlin, in 1879.

This Urtext edition is based on the composer’s autograph score. It corrects mistakes found in the first edition and so, for the first time, the editor incorporates omitted passages from the autograph, marking them with Vi-de. This reconstruction makes it possible to clarify the piece’s structure. The author of the Foreword, Katerina Nová, is head of the Dvorák Museum in Prague.