This piece was originally one of two slow movements from String Quintet in G major Op. 18 dating from 1874. Dvorak later removed it from the quintet and, after various revisions, offered it to the Berlin publisher Bote & Bock as an independent work entitled Nocturne. Apart from this version for string orchestra, there also exist versions for violin and piano and for four-hand piano. This title is part of the first Complete Critical Edition of Works by Antonin Dvorak.