Recorded mono in October 1955 at Praha, ČSSR, this is the first of the Smetana Quartet’s several recordings of Leos Janáček’s two String Quartets.
From its establishment in 1945, the Smetana Quartet played in the following line-up: Jiří Novák (1st violin), Václav Neumann (2nd violin to 1946), Lubomír Kostecký (2nd violin), Jaroslav Rybenský (viola, 1947–1955) replaced by Milan Škampa (from 1956) and Antonín Kohout (violoncello). When performing quintet compositions, the Smetana Quartet was frequently joined by the pianists Jan Panenka and Josef Hála, the violinist Josef Suk and the clarinettist Vladimír Říha.