Dvorák’s String Quartet in A-flat major is the last of the composer´s chamber music compositions and also his last work without a programme title.<br> 
Dvorák began composing this quartet in 1895 while still in New York, but interrupted his writing and renewed it again only 8 months later in Prague after having meanwhile completed the G major Quartet. Similarly to the G major Quartet, this last quartet demonstrates Dvorák´s overwhelming joy and happiness upon returning to his beloved homeland after a long time spent abroad. All the quartet’s themes are entirely free of any echoes of American folk music and each of its four movements sings in tones solely Czech in character.<br>