Strijkkwartet nr. 12 "Het Amerikaanse"

This piece is an arrangement for reed quintet of the 12th string quartet composed by Antonín Dvořák. The string quartet was written in 1893, during Dvořák's time in the United States. The quartet is one of the most popular in the chamber music repertoire.

Dvořák composed the quartet in 1893 during a summer vacation from his position as director (1892–1895) of the National Conservatory in New York City. He spent his vacation in the town of Spillville, Iowa, which was home to a Czech immigrant community. Dvořák came to Spillville through Josef Jan Kovařík. Kovařík had finished violin studies at the Prague Conservatory and was about to return to Spillville — his home in the United States — when Dvořák offered him a position as secretary. When Josef Jan accepted, he came to live with the Dvořák family in New York. He told Dvořák about Spillville, where his father Jan Josef was a schoolmaster, leading Dvořák to spend the summer of 1893 there.

Dvořák felt very much at ease in Spillville. Writing to a friend he described his state of mind, away from hectic New York: "I have been on vacation since 3 June here in the Czech village of Spillville and I won't be returning to New York until the latter half of September. The children arrived safely from Europe and we're all happy together. We like it very much here and, thank God, I am working hard and I'm healthy and in good spirits." He composed the quartet shortly after the New World Symphony, before that work had been performed.

Source: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._12_(Dvořák)