Pittsfield — Up until just a few weeks ago, the Dover String Quartet’s reputation was excellent. But now it is about to soar, as Julianne Lee has departed the Boston Symphony Orchestra to join the group as violist. Lee played in the BSO’s first desk of second violinists, having joined the orchestra in her early 20s before she had even graduated from New England Conservatory. A wunderkind of staggering talent, Lee plays violin and viola with equal ease.
All members of the Dover Quartet studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia’s uber-elite school for prodigies. So, yes, they all play at Lee’s level. Still, notwithstanding their proximity at Curtis to innumerable viola virtuosos, they must be pinching themselves over their extraordinary luck at welcoming Lee into their group.
Violinist Joel Link has been a top prize winner of numerous competitions, including the Johansen International Competition in Washington, D.C. and the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in England, accomplishments that were featured in The Strad magazine.
Violinist Bryan Lee has performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Delaware, Lansdowne, and Temple University symphony orchestras. He received the bronze medal at the 2005 Stulberg International String Competition and won second prize at the 2004 Kingsville Young Performers Competition.
Cellist Camden Shaw graduated from Curtis in 2010 and joined the faculty in 2020. He has collaborated with such artists as Daniel Hope, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and the late Leon Fleischer. He often appears as a soloist, including a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Op. 56, with the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, where he holds the principal chair. Teachers include Norman Fischer, David Finckel, and Steven Isserlis.
Although the Dover Quartet’s playing satisfies the most discriminating chamber music aficionados (BBC Music Magazine called it one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years), the group is made up of professional educators who know how to put a program together that will appeal to both experienced and first-time listeners.
Here is the program for October 15:
- Haydn — String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74, No. 3 “Rider”
- Florence Price — String Quartet No. 1 in G Major
- Schubert — String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”
Long after the composer’s death, Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74, No. 3, was nicknamed “Rider” because of the galloping rhythm in the final movement (and maybe also in the first movement, only with a three-legged horse). The playful opening gesture is engaging and unforgettable, with Haydn managing his characteristically uncanny trick of making us sense the twinkle in his eye from a distance of 200 years. But the soul of the piece, its center of gravity, is in the second movement, the popularity of which caused G. Schirmer to publish a piano arrangement of it in a book of easy piano solos.
Florence Price, educated at New England Conservatory, was the first African-American woman recognized as a symphonic composer, with over 300 compositions, including symphonies, concertos, choral works, chamber music, solo pieces, and a significant amount of commercial music. Her first string quartet evinces something of a conservatory sensibility, especially in terms of formal design. But all the motivic material comes from the sound world of Price’s own heritage. Listen for hints of spirituals and maybe even a whiff of Stephen Foster, especially in the second movement.
Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden,” comes last on the program, perhaps because there is little that could follow it. In this quartet, published posthumously, the composer tries to come to grips with his own mortality. This piece is considered foundational to the chamber music repertoire. It is one of the most popular string quartets of all time, and when played with verve and precision, as it is in this performance from the Esmé Quartet, it is easy to understand why. Hold onto your hat, because the Dover Quartet will engage this piece with exquisite nuance and overpowering fury, delivering what promises to be the perfect ending to another thrilling South Mountain season.
