Haydn became fascinated by the string quartet in the 1750s, when he created the form more or less single-handedly, and he refined and perfected it over the following decades. In the 1780s he further developed the form, perhaps because he had a talented group of musicians to write for at the Esterhazy court, where he was Kapellmeister. By that time the string quartet was popular all over Europe, and had become a favourite chamber music form for composers ranging from Boccherini in Madrid to Mozart in Vienna.

During this decade a musical friendship between Haydn and Mozart flourished and proved fruitful for both. Mozart's six string quartets dedicated to Haydn appeared in the autumn of 1785 and the younger composer repeatedly said that he had learned how to write proper string quartets from Haydn. However, the learning went in both directions, and the opening of Haydn's Quartet in G Opus 54 No 1 owes much to Mozart's way of wriing.

The set of three quartets Opus 54 are some of Haydn's most unusual and ground-breaking. The first, in G major, has always been one of Haydn's most popular quartets. Despite the brilliant and difficult high passages, which were doubtless written for the Esterhazy orchestra's virtuoso, Johann Tost, the work is pleasing for the players. The delicacy of the slow movement, and the instrumental pyrotechnics in the Finale, have also been favourites with audiences.