The collection of twelve pieces for string quartet Cypresses is a loose paraphrase of the original cycle of love songs bearing the same name, which Dvorak produced when he was twenty-four. Later on he re-wrote some of the songs and incorporated them into other song cycles; he took a larger selection and recreated them in 1887 as lyrical miniatures for string quartet. Cypresses in this form, less still the original song version, were never published during the composer's lifetime. This pocket score was published as part of the first Complete Critical Edition of Works by Antonin Dvorak.