The four string quartets largely span Christopher Wright's adult composing career (of 40 years), from his early twenties to the present, and are the only single genre to which he has consistently returned. Each quartet was conceived as a non-programmatic abstract piece of music; however, the first and fourth are "descriptive" in that they were inspired by specific landscapes: respectively, the East Suffolk Coast and Beacon Fell Lancashire. Only the fourth quartet has a title and four distinct movements.