Karol Szymanowski was born in 1882 to a mixed Swedish and Polish parentage living in a part of Poland annexed to the Ukraine. Following his mature education in Warsaw, he spent many years visiting Western Europe, and there fell under the influence of composers as musically diverse as Ravel and Wagner. He eventually settled in Poland and became deeply patriotic, though his music was little appreciated there. Cut off from the outside world during the First World War, he entered a period of compositional activity that brought the First String Quartet, a three-movement score of sensuous colours. Ten years later he added a Second Quartet imbued with strong Tatra folk-music elements. From the colourful Three Pieces of 1914, to the astringent modernism of the Double Canon, Stravinsky’s works for string quartet reflect three very differing phases in the composer’s career.