Rautavaara's Fourth String Quartet was written in the summer of 1975, in Rautavaara's summer cottage in the West Finnish archipelago and, like all the other string quartets, it faded into obscurity after its completion.

[2] This string quartet is divided into three untitled movements and has a total duration of around 22 minutes.

This movement uses glissandi passages to lend the piece a surrealistic air.

The nocturne-like second movement, as opposed to the first, has a steady tempo all throughout, and the accompanying voices of the melody have a constant quarter-note pulse that acts almost like a metronome.

Finally, the quick, 115-bar third movement begins with an impassioned, rapid texture that later matures into a nostalgic variant of the original leitmotiv from the second movement.