Writing for the string quartet presents a challenge: being inherently contrapuntal in design, one attempts to balance melody, harmony, rhythm and texture equally among the four instruments within a sound palette that is more restricted than with orchestral music.
Consequently, in an effort to expand the sound palette I included the Bartók "snap" pizzicato, col legno, tremolo, harmonics and glissandi string articulations.
String quartets usually have four movements with a large-scale structure similar to that of a symphony. The outer movements are typically fast; the inner movements usually contain a slow movement and a dance movement of some sort, in either order.
My String Quartet retains the fast-slow-fast design but has three movements: a Sonata-Rondo, a Theme and Variations and an Arch form (Intro — A B C Dev. C' B' A' — Coda). The dance movement was subsumed into the outer movements, appearing as a lopsided waltz in the first movement and as a march and furiant in the third movement. The final coda is an amalgamation of motives from all three movements.