This work, originally premiered in San Francisco in 1990 by the Aurora String Quartet, was again performed by that group on January 19, 1992. Chamber Music America had commissioned the piece for the group and included it on the Chamber Music America Conference concert. Wrote Joshua Kosman in the San Francisco Chronicle, "Lees was represented by his String Quartet #4 which the Aurora String Quartet played suavely (the group gave the piece its world premiere at Old First [Church] in 1990). In three movements, Lees lays out his ideas melodically, developing them with welcome clarity. In the first movement, sudden chromatic flurries serve as identifiable punctuation points. The central movement, a winsome pizzicato scherzo, is formally freer. Most compelling were the slashing chordal strokes of the finale."

Later in the season the work was performed on April 10 by the Portland String Quartet at Noyce Auditorium, Portland, Maine. Mark Polshook, writing in the Portland Press Herald commented, "After intermission the Portland String Quartet performed Benjamin Lees' dark and brooding String Quartet #4. This dissonant composition was reminiscent of Bartok's string quartets without imitating them. In the program notes Lees wrote `there is a feeling of continuity and flow that forces the listener to concentrate on the evolution of the musical material.' This apt description only begins to hint at the compelling nature of this work. Lees' style of composition emphasizes the development of his musical material in a singular fashion. The audience that filled Noyce Auditorium gave the PSQ and Lees a rousing round of applause upon the conclusion of his work."