String Quartet No. 2 was written in the fall of 2009, and consists of six movements that are separated by textural differences, but united through motivic unity and a consistent harmonic landscape. The first four movements each explore seemingly different motives, which in the fifth movement are unfolded in the reverse order and whose motivic connections are now revealed. This large-scale cyclic process is followed by a quiet movement of harmonic reflection, based on the opening material. String Quartet No. 2 is subtitled Kirurgi (Swedish for surgery), a designation that comes from the main ?limping? theme in the first Fugue, which originated in a song I composed entitled Surgery. This work journeys through a wide range of emotional territory, and was inspired by my adventures in the Swedish and Norwegian Arctic landscapes.?