The string quartet in F sharp minor, here in its edition, is a rarity among Rudolf Mauersberger’s compositions. The long-serving cantor of Church of the Holy Cross mainly composed music for its choir the Dresden Kreuzchor. His instrumental compositions – although listed at the end of his catalogue of works (RMWV 445–451) – are in fact early works. The string quartet concludes this period in his work at the beginning of his career as a cantor in Aachen in 1919.