Martinu composed his fifth, sixth, and seventh string quartets under difficult circumstances. The fifth quartet (1938) was composed in Paris during a time of extreme poverty and political strife; the sixth quartet (1946) was composed around the time of a serious accident; and the seventh and final quartet (1947) was composed during the difficult and painful time of recovery, a time when mental and physical energies were at an all-time low.

By the time the String Quartet No. 7 had been completed, Martinu had resided in the United States for six years. Having no command of the English language on his arrival, he nontheless obtained a commission from Koussevitzky, resulting in the creation of five symphonies (1942-46) and a plethora of other important works, most notably the Violin Concerto No. 2, H. 293 (1943), Sonata for Flute & Piano, H306 (1945), and Czech Rhapsody for violin and piano (1945), to mention only a few.

Coincidental to his work on the sixth string quartet of 1946, the composer was offered a teaching position at the Prague Music Conservatory. Desiring to return to his homeland, he had his wife travel to Czechoslovakia to organize the move and to seek out accomodations. Meanwhile, Martinu stayed home to finish up a commission. But while the two were separated, the composer became a victim to a freak accident. He had fallen off the balcony of his New York apartment and was badly injured. Suffering from a combination of nervous shock, partial hearing and memory loss, the fifty-six year old composer gradually resumed his work, though greatly diminished in physical and creative energy. With the String Quartet No. 7, Martinu was on the mend, and from this time on, he devoted himself more to composing chamber music.

When in Paris, and prior to his American years, Martinu embraced the cultural heritage of his birthplace, and made more frequent reference to it in his creative work. Upon entering the States, his style underwent a subtle transformation, stressing the economy of the melodic line, and employing a more direct and simpler mode of expression. The composer's String Quartet No.7 appears to fit this description aptly.

The String Quartet No. 7 is occassionally referred to as a concerto da camera, possibly because of its three-movement structure, and affinity to the olden definition of chamber concerto. One percieves a kind of genuine spirit operating here; an almost youthful spirit that seems to pervade much of Martinu's music. Like his predecessor Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904), Martinu did not seek out novel devices or attempt to cause waves. Instead, he chose to create a music honest in expression, with a richness of harmonic invention, offering a tantalizing feast for the ears.

Biographer Milos Safranek has said that the first movement invokes joy and optimism, while the slower middle movement shows Martinu in lyric and expressive repose. True to his Czech sentiments, the last movement, Allegro Vivo, cooks up a full-blooded Czech spirit, indicating that the composer's heart never really left his native village of Policka.

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