Borodin wrote this quartet in two years, and published it in 1879 with a dedication to Rimsky Korsakov's wife. Though overshadowed by his more popular second quartet, the musical resources employed by Borodin in it's composition were novel in 19th century Russia. It full title is String Quartet on a Theme of Beethoven, and it employes a variation of a melody from Beethoven's Op. 130 quartet. Upon hearing it, a critic stated that Borodin had produced Russia's first great piece of chamber music.
