Following the introduction (1), the ensuing themes are examined: how the genre of the string quartet took shape in Europe leading into the 1940s (2), Bartok's sources of inspiration, starting from folk music and Beethoven to his contemporaries (3), the form and analysis of the Quartets, movement by movement and a summary of next period's production (4-9), the conclusions, research material and sources, catalogue of Bartok's works (10-12). Included in the study are Bartok's own analyses of the Fourth and Fifth Quartets. Many viewpoints and study results of earlier researchers are incorporated as well. Among the most renowned are the Hungarians Janos Karpáti, Ernö Lendvai, and Laszla Somfai, the German Roswitha Traimer, and the Americans Elliott Antokoletz, Allen Forte, and Paul Wilson.