All three finished string quartets by Tchaikovsky were composed in the period 1872-1876, so in a relatively short time. The best known is the second part of the first quartet: Andante cantabile. When it was played for the writer Leo Tolstoy at a tribute concert for him, it made him cry. The same thing happened to American writer Helen Keller.
This is a truly masterful performance, and I listened a lot to it. This is the Borodin Quartet in its superb first lineup. I always try to find recordings of this particular ensemble, certainly of Russian composers. These are not Tchaikovsky’s most popular works, but the composer himself judged the second quartet his best composition.