TRADITIONS IN CONVERSATION

From Mendelssohn to Chickasaw works,
a program unified by thoughtful playing

The Dover Quartet — Joel Link, Bryan Lee, violins; Julianne Lee, viola; and Camden Shaw, cello) — is small but mighty. Originally formed at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia in 2008, they are one of the greatest quartets you will ever hear. These musicians have collaborated with preeminent artists and performed internationally celebrating and interpreting music both classical and modern. On February 10, they returned to Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall for a unique and exciting evening of widely differing music, some of which is on their lates album, Woodland Songs (reviewed here by Stage and Cinema).

The playing was impeccable: perfectly in tune and so polished it could have been recorded on the spot. Musical lines moved with ease from one instrument to another, creating a natural sense of continuity. Just as importantly, the Dover Quartet lets the composers take center stage, never imposing ego or unnecessary display. In music this exposed and technically demanding, that kind of restraint is no small achievement.

The evening began and ended with two giants of the classical world, Felix Mendelssohn and Antonin Dvořák. Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80 is the composer’s last and arguably best piece of chamber music, composed after the death of his sister Fanny in 1847, and less than six months before his own passing at 38. Although the piece is emotionally intense, it is also lighthearted and rhythmic and eventually quite energetic. The Dover Quartet met its challenges with clarity and control, even at the vertiginous speeds required in several movements.

Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 American, composed during the three years he spent in the United States as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City, is one of his shortest and most popular works. The composer himself explained, “I wanted for once to write something very melodious and simple, and I always kept Papa Haydn before my eyes.” But he was also drawing from the melodies of native peoples and African Americans.

photo of Dover Quartet by Roy Cox

The centerpiece of the evening comes from the Chickasaw tradition: Pura Fé’s Rattle Songs and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs), commissioned by the Dover Quartet.

Although Rattle Songs is based on the shell-shaking styles of woodland tribes, Tate has reworked them so skillfully one would think Fé had the Dover Quartet as much in mind as her North American cousins, to whom she is paying homage. The ensemble’s attention to texture and rhythmic grounding served the music particularly well here.

Tate’s own Woodland Songs is a modern composition with five movements, each devoted to a southern woodland animal he cherishes or admires: squirrel, woodpecker, deer, fish, and raccoon. Surely we can hear these animals running through the trees and grass, swimming in the lakes and rivers, or searching for insects with their beaks in the strains coming from the Dover Quartet’s instruments. The playing remained consistently focused and well-shaped, allowing the character of each movement to emerge clearly.

The partnering of European classical music and Native American music provided a fascinating glimpse into a future where we celebrate the roots and flowering of all traditions that have become our combined heritage — perfect for Carnegie Hall’s current festival: United in Sound: America at 250.

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The Dover Quartet
Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave.
part of United in Sound: America at 250 Festival
reviewed on February 10, 2026
for more info and performance dates, visit Dover Quartet

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