[2]) The quartet was performed for the first time at a party at Nikolai Rubinstein's apartment on March 2, 1876.

The first public performance was at a concert on 30 March (new style/March 18 (old style), the performers being: Jan Hřímalý[1] and Adolph Brodsky, violins; Yuly Gerber, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello.

When they finished playing, Tchaikovsky remarked, "At first I didn't much like the Finale, but now I see that it is quite good.

"[citation needed] Recently, it was featured in the downloadable content Left Behind for the 2013 video game The Last of Us.

The Andante funebre was originally intended to be the second movement, with the Allegretto vivo e scherzando as the third, but Tchaikovsky later decided to switch them.