Edinburgh Quartet, Beethoven and Mozart
St Mark’s Unitarian Church, Edinburgh, 31/3/2026
The Edinburgh Quartet
The Edinburgh Quartet have been a delightful part of my musical life ever since I moved to Edinburgh 27 years ago. They were established in 1960 which makes them one of the oldest established string quartets in the UK and certainly one of the most respected. As a young man in the new town of Harlow in Essex I was introduced to the joy of the string quartet by the Alberni Quartet who were established in Harlow by a far-sighted Development Corporation and local council, and they helped to make Harlow a town with a rich musical culture. I’m currently writing my political memoirs (to be published later this year by Rymour Press) and in them I recall how, as the MEP in charge of the European Parliament’s music policy, I chose the Alberni to open an international dinner for the world music industry in Brussels. Sadly, the Alberni have gone, like many other quartets. Of course the Edinburgh Quartet have changed their personnel over the years, but it was a pleasure to discover at this lunchtime concert that their new line-up is still making wonderful music.
Their new leader, Sadie Fields, is a Canadian/British violinist based in Brussels but making music internationally. I was very impressed with her both as a violinist and as a leader. She seems to have given this old established quartet a new lease of life. She also pointed out they were now a very modern Quartet as they were all using iPads for the music! Another new member of the quartet is second violinist Gongbo Jiang who was born and educated in China but studied at the Conservatoire in Glasgow and has become an important part of musical life in Scotland both in orchestras and in chamber music. On viola is Catherine Marwood, a very eminent musician who was for many years principal viola player with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and now the Liverpool Philharmonic. Mark Bailey, the cellist, is the longest serving member of the quartet and certainly has been there since I came to know them. The dynamics between the members of the quartet are very important and, on the basis of today’s concert, I can testify that this new line-up seems to be in impressive harmony.
The concert began with an early Beethoven quartet, No 5 Op 18 published in 1801, which as Sadie Fields told us was a very ‘Mozartian’ quartet. Clearly Beethoven had been influenced by Mozart, whom he met when he was 17 and was given some lessons by Mozart. Traces of this can be heard in the first movement of the quartet, although later movements are a little darker; indeed one critic has said you can find elements of his Fifth symphony there. The quartet played the work beautifully and the interaction and movements between them were perfect.
The second work in the concert was Mozart’s Strinq Quartet No 19, written between 1782-85 and dedicated to Haydn. It was nicknamed the ‘Dissonance’ Quartet because of the very slow introduction with lots of counterpoint. As the leader said it sounded more like Beethoven than Mozart. It was again beautifully played by the quartet .
The concert was unusually staged in St Mark’s Unitarian Church, and unexpectedly, having been billed for St Cecilia’s Hall, now undergoing some building work and closed until June. My only previous experiences of music at St Marks were during the festival fringe, but it is a very nice hall with a good acoustic. There was a decent audience which gave a warm reception to the Edinburgh Quartet. Let’s hope we hear more from the new line-up of the Quartet, so that they can continue to be an important part of Scotland’s musical life.
Photo credit: Sandy Butler
