In the entry on the history of the string quartet published in the last paper edition of Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Kassel 1998), Ludwig Finscher singled out Krzysztof Meyer as foremost among the few living 'specialists' of the genre. Since the publication of that study, Meyer has penned five more quartets. While in his orchestral compositions ? symphonies and concertos ? Meyer's music has acquired new colours with the passing of time, in his works for string instruments he has employed an increasingly modest, though by no means poorer, timbral palette.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe made a good point when writing in a letter to his friend, the musician Philipp Christoph Kayser: 'A knowledgeable composer is able to achieve more with a pair of violins, viola and bass than others with a full orchestra.'

The Wieniawski String Quartet was founded in 1998. It is made up of members of the 'Amadeus' Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, prizewinners of numerous competitions in Poland and abroad. The Quartet's repertoire includes several dozen works by Polish and foreign composers, spanning music from the Classical period to the present.

In 1999 the Wieniawski String Quartet recorded its debut CD, featuring both of Szymanowski's string quartets and Grazyna Bacewicz's String Quartet No. 4. The Quartet's discography also includes a CD with Krzysztof Meyer's Clarinet Quintet (with Pawel Drobnik) and Piano Quintet (with Andrzej Tatarski), as well as four CDs featuring Meyer's String Quartets Nos. 1?13 (for Naxos).