A tonal, intensely lyrical work written during a hiking trip with his future wife. It is characterized by lush harmonies and late-Romantic yearning .

As Webern moved away from traditional keys, his music became "pointillistic," emphasizing silence and precise tone colors . ANTON WEBERN – Early Works for String Quartet

Anton Webern ’s complete output for string quartet represents a radical condensation of musical language, moving from the lush post-Romanticism of the early 1900s to the ultra-distilled "jewel-like" aphorisms of the Second Viennese School . Because Webern's total published output is famously brief—just over three hours for his entire life's work—his quartet music is often collected on a single disc, such as those by the Quartetto Italiano or Emerson String Quartet . 1. Early Post-Romantic Works (c. 1905)