The short, lyrical and unpretentious work is adapted from the the slow movement of Dvorák 's own F minor string quartet, composed the previous year, and has been described as being "infused with the warm air of summer and the Bohemian woodlands".  The scoring is for woodwind, horns, and the usual strings.  

The work was dedicated to Fantisek Ondricek who, ten years later, was to be the soloist in the first performance of Dvorák 's violin concerto.