Live Concert April 8, 2016: Carnegie Hall Presents Dover Quartet in the Weill Recital Hall The performers in this concert consisted of the Dover string quartet: Joel Link on violin, Bryan Lee on violin, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt on viola, and Camden Shaw on cello. The program consisted of the String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 "American" by Dvorak, the String Quartet, Op. 3 by Berg, and the String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 "Razumovsky" by Beethoven.

The three works were very different, which is not surprising considering that each was written in a different time period. Beethoven's quartet was composed in 1806 in for the Russian Count Andrey Razumovsky; Dvorak's quartet was composed in the 1890s during the artist's say in New York; and Berg's quartet was composed in 1910 (but not debuted for another 13 years) ("At a Glance"). So each piece has its own era and sound and can be appreciated in this context -- as works representing developmental points in time.

The Hall was busy as usual and it was an exciting experience arriving for a performance of these works by these three musicians. The audience settled in, the musicians tuned their stringed instruments and the performances got underway. First, was the Dvorak.

I really enjoyed the second movement of the "American" by Dvorak -- it was very melancholic and moody and...

I could feel what it must have been like to come to the New World with so much hope and promise only to find infinite struggle. Yet the music was also very compelling and humble, almost spiritual in way -- so the feeling was very powerful and universal. The tonal color of the third movement picks back up and offers some energy: the violins are played more quickly and with more upbeat passion. The melody is happier and the cello and viola accompany this happier mood with a harmonic undertone. Dvorak's music is definitely of the Romantic Era of music -- there is so much feeling in it, so much melody and harmony and rhythm, so much mystery, that it is overall very enjoyable to listen to.
The Berg quartet followed and this was overall much less melodic than the Dvorak quartet. Its tone had an almost paranoid or schizoid color to it -- at times it seemed as if the two violins, the cello and the viola were completely out of harmony with one another: the music was discordant to say the least -- but not bad. This is not surprising considering that Berg is an early 20th century composer. This music definitely has a more modern sound -- not quite as discordant or sharp as a work by Bartok but it…