Miklós Rózsa’s first string quartet op. 22 – not counting an unpublished work from his student days – was written at the beginning of his work as a film composer at MGM. At the same time, the composer was working on the score for the monumental film Quo Vadis? starring the dedicatee of this string quartet, Peter Ustinov.
The composition includes a scherzo inspired by Hungarian folk music and a dark, slow movement. In addition to his experience with the film noir genre, the yearning for his homeland, which Rózsa was no longer able to visit often due to his numerous travels and commitments, may have been incorporated here.