Bartok's String Quartet No. 2

I have a friend in Boston named Steve. He is an accomplished musician, composer, and songwriter, having studied at the Berklee School of Music. He plays classical guitar, but he specializes in Brazilian music and his own compositions.

One day 6 or 7 years ago I half-jokingly asked him what he thought was the best piece of music ever composed. I didn’t expect a straight answer. Who can really answer such a ridiculous question? I expected a discussion to follow, about what criteria to use, whether you can really compare music of different genres and cultures, etc. But he answered without hesitation:

“Bartok’s Second String Quartet in A Minor.”

He played a recording for me; I didn’t get it. It is a thoroughly modern piece, composed in 1917. It’s not strictly atonal, but it might as well be, with its strange dissonances and bizarre tonalities. I must admit I didn’t understand it. But I was intrigued by his certainty about the greatness of the piece and wanted to learn to appreciate it.

So I decided that over the next few years I would listen to classical music with the goal in mind that it would lead eventually to my being able to appreciate Bartok. The most helpful music to listen to were Beethoven’s late string quartets, the ones he composed when he was totally deaf, with their dramatic and unconventional (for the time) structures that pointed the way toward Bartok’s quartets.

Now, after 6 or 7 years I can say that I've learned to love it. It's challenging, difficult, haunting, beautiful. I don't know if any of you are "classical" music lovers. If so, you might already know and love this work.

Best piece of music ever composed? I don’t know. But maybe it will take you somewhere, like it did me.