They were written in early 1881 for piano duet and reset later that year for a reduced orchestra (B. 122).
[1] On 15 October 1880, the day before finishing the score of his sixth symphony, Dvořák wrote to his publisher Fritz Simrock about his plans for the near future saying he hoped to finish a piano duet cycle, "Legends," in the next month.
Dvořák dedicated the composition to the critic Eduard Hanslick, who praised the cycle with great enthusiasm.
2, 5, 6) were premiered at a concert of the Vienna Philharmonic on 26 November 1882, conducted by Wilhelm Jahn.
7 (Allegretto grazioso, A major) was originally to have been the third piece, but Dvorak shifted it to its ultimate position before publication.