String Quartet No. 1

The striking feature of this composition, especially its first two movements, is its great lyricism, originating in the melodic pattern of the Lithuanian folk song. Lack of precision with regard to the shape of the first-movement themes is another significant feature; as a result that movement resembles a free arched-recapitulation form rather than a ''classic'' Allegro. The narrative technique, akin to Bartok's ''motivic expansion'', is however devoid of an expressionistic trait.