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 and Adolph Brodsky, violins; Yuly Gerber, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello.

Date of composition 1876
Premiered 1876, March 30th in Moscow, Russia
First published 1876 in Moscow, Russia
Dedicated to To the memory of Ferdinand Laub
Type String Quartet
Tonality E-flat Minor
Catalogue Op. 30
Approx. duration 38 minutes
Instruments String Quartet
Autotranslations beta Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski: Quatuor à cordes n°3 en mi bémol mineur, Op. 30
Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij: Quartetto d'archi n. 3 in mi bemolle minore, Op. 30
Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowski: Streichquartett Nr. 3 es-moll, Op. 30