Though Webern was studying under Schoenberg in 1905, the year he composed Langsamer Satz, the influence of Brahms, Wagner and Mahler is manifest in this early work. As for Bartók’s String Quartet No.4, it associates references to folk music with a complex structure, recurrent counterpoint, and a wide range of musical techniques. Lastly, both pieces by Shostakovich are transcriptions: Elegy, of Katerina’s obsessive aria from the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and Polka, of the famous and comical dance from the ballet, The Golden Age. Four 20^th century pieces, rich with colour and soundscapes, which encapsulate a period of intense harmonic exploration and unprecedented variation in sound.