The String Quartet No. 2 by Béla Bartók was written between 1915 and October 1917 in Rákoskeresztúr in Hungary. Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a composer, pianist and collector of East European folk music. ... Rákoskeresztúr is a former town in Hungary now part of District XVII of Budapest. ...

The work is in three movements:

1. Moderato
2. Allegro molto capriccioso
3. Lento

In a letter to André Gertier, Bartók described the first movement as being in sonata form, the second as "a kind of rondo" and the third as "difficult to define" but possibly a sort of ternary form. Sonata form refers to both the standard layout of an entire work and more specifically to the standardized form of the first movement. ... Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that is distinct from the form. ... Ternary form is a way of structuring a piece of music. ...

The work is dedicated to the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet, and it was they who gave the piece its premiere on March 3, 1918 in Budapest. The work was first published in 1920 by Universal Edition. Budapest (pronounced BOO-dah-pesht, IPA ), the capital city of Hungary and the countrys principal political, industrial, commercial and transportation centre, has more than 1. ... Universal Edition (UE) are a classical music publishing firm. ...