String Quartet No. 2 (1958)

Though mainstream concertgoers would peg him as an atonal composer, and though he was profoundly affected by Schoenberg, Mr. Kirchner never bought into strict 12-tone procedures, always wanting to work from instinct. While indebted to Schoenberg, the Second Quartet comes across like some confident modern-day American composer's ingenious riff on a Neo-Classical Schoenberg quartet.

...turbocharged with musical ideas. It definitely can be counted as a masterpiece of our time...contagiously enjoyable... This was truly exciting music.

String Quartet No. 2 displays a marked compression of dynamics and dramatic gesture...this is Kirchner at his most lyrical and expressive, evoking the gemultlichkeit warmth of Brahms.