For Immediate Release

CEDILLE RELEASES BOX SET OF DOVER QUARTET’S

HIGHLY ACCLAIMED COMPLETE BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTETS CYCLE ON NOVEMBER 17, 2023

“Beethoven would find it hard to believe that his quartets could be played with such perfection of execution, such beauty of tone, such nuance of expression, and such keen

understanding of his music’s meaning and intent.” —Fanfare 

“This is a monumental achievement by one of the best

string quartets playing today.” —Classical CD Reviews

CHICAGO, IL (October 18, 2023) - Cedille Records releases a specially-priced 8-disc box set of the Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet’s critically acclaimed traversal of Beethoven’s Complete String Quartets on November 17, 2023. This collection, which began in 2020 coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, brings together the ensemble’s three year exploration of these 16 pivotal works in the quartet repertoire, including Vol. 1: The Opus 18 Quartets, Vol. 2: The Middle Quartets, and Vol. 3: The Late Quartets.

Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the Dover Quartet has followed a “practically meteoric” (Strings) trajectory to become one of the most in-demand chamber ensembles in the world since sweeping all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Since 2015, the Dover Quartet has served as quartet-in-residence at Chicago’s Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, where they coach chamber music ensembles and musicians, give master classes, and perform. The Quartet also serves as the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, and holds residencies with the Kennedy Center, Artosphere, and Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. 

"It remains difficult to describe the enormity of this Beethoven quartet recording project for us; the sheer effort — the weight of responsibility, the lightness of aspiration — all driving us toward the most thorough and meaningful interpretations we could achieve. Our friendship with this music will remain forever.” 

— The Dover Quartet

Vol. 1: The Opus 18 Quartets (2020) comprises the first six quartets by Beethoven, including String Quartets No. 1 in F major, No. 2 in G major, No. 3 in D major, No. 4 in C minor, No. 5 in A major, and No. 6 in B-flat major. These early quartets are often cited as the epitome of the classical string quartet as developed by Haydn and Mozart, while foreshadowing Beethoven’s future innovation. Praising the first volume, New York’s WQXR said: “it’s hard to imagine a group better suited to recording these works than the Dover Quartet.”

Vol. 2: The Middle Quartets (2021) includes the three Op. 59 “Razumovsky” Quartets, infused with Russian folk tunes; the graceful “Harp,” Op. 74, named for its plucked string figures; and the intense Op. 95 “Serioso,” a forward-looking experiment that Beethoven originally intended “for a small circle of connoisseurs.” As with the first volume, reviews of the second installment were staggering. Fanfare wrote that the Dover Quartet delivered “the most profoundly penetrating performances of Beethoven’s middle string quartets,” while Only Strings said, “The Dover performances sparkle and thrill. Their virtuosity is immediately apparent.”

Vol. 3: The Late Quartets (2022) comprises Beethoven’s very last compositions: Quartets No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127; No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130; Grosse Fuge in B-flat major, Op. 133 (original finale to Op. 130); No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131; No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132; and No. 16 in F major, Op. 135. These five monumental and revolutionary Late Quartets and imposing Grosse Fuge — “culminates their excellent recordings of all of Beethoven’s string quartets” (Third Coast Review). Remarkable and often daunting works that upended the concept of the string quartet, they are often considered the ultimate expression of Beethoven’s artistry. 

The Dover Quartet has performed the complete quartets at the University of Buffalo’s Slee Cycle, the University of Connecticut’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, and the Montreal Chamber Music Festival. Seen and Heard International called the Dover’s Montreal cycle “a musically transformative event.” Beethoven continues to be a staple of their repertoire with the Quartet consistently featuring the string quartets in their concert programs. On November 18, 2023 they will conclude another complete cycle with the People’s Symphony Concerts of New York. 

The Quartet’s recordings for Cedille also include Voices of Defiance, comprising mid-20th-century works; and Tribute, an album honoring their teachers and coaches from the Guarneri Quartet inspired by the Guarneri’s own all-Mozart debut album a half-century earlier.

ABOUT THE DOVER QUARTET

The Dover Quartet (violinists Joel Link and Bryan Lee, violist Julianne Lee, and cellist Camden Shaw) draws from the lineage of the distinguished Guarneri, Cleveland, and Vermeer quartets. Its members studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where they were mentored extensively by Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, Kenneth Goldsmith, Joseph Silverstein, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, and Peter Wiley. It was at Curtis that the Dover Quartet formed, and its name pays tribute to Dover Beach by fellow Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.

The Quartet tours internationally and gives more than 100 concerts annually. In recent years they have premiered works by Steven Mackey, Marc Neikrug, Chris Rogerson, and Mason Bates, and have collaborated with artists including Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnaton, Ray Chen, Joseph Conyers, the Escher String Quartet, Bridget Kibbey, Anthony McGill,  Edgar Meyer, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, the late Peter Serkin, Davóne Tines, and Haochen Zhang.

In addition to sweeping all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Dover Quartet also received grand and first prizes at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Its prestigious honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award.

ABOUT CEDILLE RECORDS

Launched in November 1989 by James Ginsburg, Grammy Award-winning Cedille Records (pronounced say-DEE) is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the most noteworthy classical artists in and from the Chicago area. A nonprofit record label, Cedille’s mission is to produce and disseminate audiophile recordings presenting the finest classical music performers and composers in and from Chicago. The recordings further the careers and legacies of these Chicago artists as Cedille invests in not only the recordings but in the artists represented on them. The label’s catalog of more than 200 front-line albums brims with attractive, off-the-beaten-path repertoire from the Baroque era to the present day, including world premieres of more than 400 classical compositions. Works from the classical canon, when they do appear, are usually heard in particularly imaginative pairings. Cedille never removes albums from its catalog and each recording is a permanent documentation of the artist’s work. With more than 180 Chicago artists and ensembles, over 80 making their professional recording debuts on the label, Cedille brings the area’s most significant classical music artists to a worldwide listening public. Cedille recordings are available on CD, as MP3 and hi-resolution FLAC downloads, and on all major streaming platforms.

Dover Quartet: Beethoven Complete String Quartets

Cedille Box 1005

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Volume 1: Opus 18 Quartets

String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1 (28:48)

String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2 (23:32)

String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18, No. 3 (24:51)

String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4 (23:09)

String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18, No. 5 (28:32)

String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18, No. 6 (25:28)

Volume 2: The Middle Quartets

String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1 (39:05)

String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (28:16)

String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3 (30:39)

String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74 (24:03)

String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 (19:50)

Volume 3: The Late Quartets

Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127 (36:04

Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130 (38:16)

Grosse Fuge in B-flat major, Op. 133 (15:09)

Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 (37:27)

Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 (42:52)

Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 (23:01)

# # #

Press Contact:

Shuman Public Relations

Lisa Jaehnig | lisa@shuman-pr.com | (646) 489-2700