Glazunov's seven string quartets span his entire career as a composer and are just as important as his symphonies. The first string quartet, which combines nationalist sentiment with classical discipline, won the young composer the Glinka Prize in 1884. Among the advances in expressivity and formal integration in the second quartet is a delightful slow movement considered the pinnacle of his early work, while the third quartet became known as "The Slavic" for its evocative folk music character.