A younger contemporary of Antonin Dvorak, Hanus Wihan (pronounced Hanush Veehan), was the greatest Czech cellist of his age.
In 1891, Dvorak, with his friends Wihan and the pianist Lachner launched the Dumky Trio in Prague and then in 1892 went on an extended concert tour of forty Bohemian and Moravian towns, playing this and other works composed by Dvorak.
Dvorak dedicated his celebrated cello concerto of 1895 to his friend Wihan, but owing to a set of unfortunate circumstances he did not get to play it until 1899 in a concert conducted by Mendelberg at The Hague. It was in fact premiered in London by the cellist Leo Stern in 1895.
Hanus Wihan was a founder member of the great Bohemian Quartet, which included Josef Suk as second violin. He remained with the Bohemian Quartet until shortly before his death in 1920, and left with the proviso that he would take one fifth of the share of fees until he died - a most unusual state of affairs for a quartet.