Two Waltzes for strings, Op. 54 / Nos. 1 & 4

Dvorak's Two Waltzes for String Quartet were taken from a set of 8 waltzes he wrote for piano in 1879. His publisher Simrock suggested that he make an arrangement for strings. This he did the following year. He selected two, the first and the fourth and arranged them for either string quartet, string quintet or string orchestra. In the end, his arrangement for strings became better known than the original set for piano. One does not often hear these lovely waltzes in concert where either would make a superb encore or played together a shorter program work.