Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (April 11, 1916 – June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer. He is considered one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.

String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26 (1958)
Dedicated to Dr. Harold Spivacke

1. Allegro rustico (0:00)
2. Adagio angoscioso (5:34)
3. Presto magico (11:33)
4. Libero e rapsodico (15:15)
5. Furioso (20:48)

Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Mexico City

Description by Joseph Stevenson [-]
This quartet was commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation and was premiered by the Juilliard Quartet at the 1958 Inter-American Music Festival in Washington, D.C. It was written at a time when Ginastera was consolidating his second stylistic period, known as his "international" style, when he used the twelve-tone system. Here, he used it in a free manner, mainly to generate themes.

Ginastera admired Bartok's string quartets, particularly the fourth and fifth, which were written in five-movement "arch form." He followed a similar structural procedure for this quartet. As the movements are all designated by tempo markings indicating their moods, listing them, as above, helps describe the emotional life of the quartet.

The first movement begins with angry and strident music, full of repeated notes, sforzato chords, and harsh harmonies. The second movement (which itself is written in a small arch form) expresses its anguish in a solo viola phrase and rises to a fever pitch marked to be played "as loudly as possible."

The "magic" third movement is mostly very quiet, almost on the edge of audibility. Like the corresponding movements by Bartok, it is full of unusual playing techniques, including fingernail pizzicatos, pizzicato glissandos, the eerie hollow sound of playing with the bow practically on the bridge, and tapping the strings with the wooden back of the bow.

The complementary curve of the arch continues the musical line of the second movement, now in a melancholy mood in a set of free variations. The finale is again angry, with loud, frantic music.

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