The diversity of developments in 20 century’s modern music is easy to follow in the string quartet literature of Swiss composers. The more recent trends are reflected here in this collection of works by Frank Martin, Vladimir Vogel, Hermann Haller and Rudolf Kelterborn. They represent three generations of composers whose contributions to string quartet music were created within just 17 years of each other. All five works have a similar thematic and motivic focus on a microstructured nuclei and a common intensification of expression, from a formal perspective, within radically compressed forms. These works, with the exception of that by Frank Martin, are indebted to a liberal mode of composition, one which disgresses from the traditional four movement style.