String Quartet No.2

This quartet, all in one movement, has a sonata-like structure in that
it uses two main “goal” notes, “C-sharp” and “C”,
and aims to create tension between the two key areas throughout. The use of
compact motifs, heard at the very beginning, is an enduring feature of the
music and one that transcends the shifts in tempi and mood. After the
short themes are exposed in the first few minutes, momentum builds from a
liquid texture and the music soon takes on a very different
character, jagged and unstable in nature, eventually exploding and giving
way to a crystalline recapitulation.