Einojuhani Rautavaara has made use of serial techniques and variable form more aggressively than any other Finnish composer. However, many of his works, even those written at the same time as his most daring experiments, partake of what he calls "non-atonal dodecaphony." As Rautavaara has put it, "'Tonal' harmony was so important as the basis for all my music that I set about seeking a practical way of combining a living harmonic event with a dodecaphonic construction, often marrying organicism with discipline." His String Quartet No. 2, along with his opera Kaivos, is one of the outstanding examples of this aspect of Rautavaara's style. Though it may not be what most people think of when they hear the word "tonal," it is certainly both accessible and affecting.

The quartet opens with a ripe, passionate melody in the first violin accompanied by sadly dissonant chords variously trilled and bowed below. Soon the texture breaks up to reveal freely imitative part-writing, as the broken opening melody asserts itself all over the quartet; a stabbing three-note rhythmic cell drives the music forward as well. Throughout this movement, free, rich melodies jockey with the three-note cell for control.

The second movement is marked Allegro, but it feels like a scherzo; it begins with sharp scurrying and pointed pizzicati, and slows down to a graceful walking pace towards the middle for contrast. The movement then speeds up again before closing with an echo of the movement's opening—suggesting a repeat that never occurs. The first violin takes the spotlight in the third-movement Adagio, which is basically an aria for that instrument. When the emotion has grown to a fever, the second violin joins the first and plays in unison; most of the time, though, this music is hushed and deeply sorrowful, except for the end, which seems to promise some amount of relief from the strain.

The final movement is marked Animato, and it borrows techniques from each of the other movements: the free imitation of the first, the quicksilver movement of the second, and the charged motif (slightly modified) of the third. It is a unique synthesis which provides a satisfying conclusion to a thoroughly satisfying work.

© Andrew Lindemann Malone, All Music Guide