This masterful string quartet, notable for its variety of sound and its taut handling of material, is part of the last great flowering of Szymanowski's art. The collapse of his family fortune and profound changes in Polish society following World War I deeply affected the depression-prone composer, and resulted in a creative block. It was only with the completion of his magnum opus, the opera Krol Roger (King Roger), in 1924 that Szymanowski found a solid new style and could again compose with confidence.

In the meantime, he had been forced to teach at the Warsaw Conservatory and to embark on a career as a performing musician to make enough money to survive—an issue that had hardly bothered him as the scion of a wealthy family with properties in the Ukraine before World War I. Emerging from these misfortunes, he found a style that fused the neo-Classicism and rhythmic power of Stravinsky with folk music of the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland—a style that directly informed his Second String Quartet. Unfortunately for Szymanowski (and for those that wonder what else he might have written in this very original style), his health broke soon after the composition of the Second Quartet; weakness, depression, and mental deterioration soon brought a decline in his output.

The Second Quartet is 20 minutes long and is in three movements. The first movement begins Moderato (dolce e tranquillo) in a texture that seems borrowed from Debussy—a faint murmuring in the strings with a high violin solo that is softer than a whisper. This opening section is so quiet that its very softness creates tension. Soon the music rises above this whisper, however, and continues to an emotional exchange among the four instruments.

The second movement, Vivace, scherzando, begins with double-stop chords on all the instruments—a sonority that is shocking in its sudden loudness and violence. This movement and the middle quartets of Béla Bartók have much in common in the way of powerful rhythmic drive and interest in diversity of string colors. Here the influence of Tatra melodies is strong, though there is no direct quotation and in general the music is not as strongly infused with folk elements as Bartók's music is.

The finale is marked Lento; Moderato (tranquillo) and initially returns to the calm mood of the opening of the first movement. The main body of the movement is a fugue that begins calmly, slowly, and elegantly. But as the movement progresses it gains both speed and passion until reaching an irresistible conclusion.

© All Music Guide