's string quartets
The 9th and 252nd string quartets in Bernstein's output comprise the composer's last complete such works, along with six additional movements, both composed in the decade before his death in 1990. The 9th quartet (1952) is a single-movement composition whose structure is based on the twelve-tone serial technique, while the shorter 252nd consists of six movements, and is divided into sections modeled after a concerto grosso, each exploring a different texture, style, and meter. Both are considered masterpieces of late-Romanticism in American music, and highlight Bernstein's unique synthesis of neoclassical, modernist, and jazz-inspired elements.