String quartet no.3 consists of two movements, in which the first and second themes constantly appear. The first movement is a typical sonata form, exposition, development and reprise. In the exposition, the first theme first appears in a slow tempo and develops, then passes into a faster, more lively second theme (descending). When the second theme is sung in a muted tone, the development begins in six-eighths time. It is faster and generally (as a whole) more lively than the exposition. As is the case in romantic morphology, the development is the central part of the sonata movement, in which the first and second themes merge and intertwine, and at the same time the development is also the most dramatically rich.

After a slight interlude, the first theme appears again in a slow binary time, but unlike the exposition, it does not remain in the low registers, but rather spreads through all the registers of the string quartet. The second theme appears on the subdominant, unlike the exposition, and is sung in a slow tempo in the coda of the movement.

The second movement represents a kind of scherzo, a kind of rondo, it is a fast movement, opened by a theme in a diminished chord, which then changes to a major key and continues the cheerful character. In between are intermezzi of the second theme from the first movement, and the first theme of the first movement also appears constantly.

The second movement is a continuation of the first as a kind of tail, where only this opening theme is added, which intertwines with the first and second themes of the first movement. In the rondo sense, thematic cycles are repeated, then brought to a conclusion in a fast tempo and sung in a repetition of the main theme of the first movement.

—Dominik Jakšič