Edinburgh Quartet: The Young Schubert

St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, 28/9/26.

Edinburgh Quartet

The Edinburgh Quartet’s 2026/27 lunchtime series returns to the newly refurbished elliptical-plan Sypert Hall at St Cecilia’s Hall and Museum in Edinburgh.  Over 6 concerts, the series traces Schubert’s development from the restless energy and poignant lyricism of his teenage works to the great quartets of his maturity.  In the final concert in June 2027, they will be joined by guest cellist and EQ Apprentice Clare Juan for a performance of the C major Quintet D.956.  I caught the opening concert of the series on 28th September.  The programme offered a perspective on a “handing-over”.  Haydn's 1799 Op. 77 No. 2 in F major represented the peak of what Haydn had achieved with the genre he established.  Schubert's Quartet in G minor D.173 was written sixteen years later in 1815 when Schubert was just eighteen years old.  It represented a youthful composer taking up the tradition that Haydn had perfected and beginning to bring it somewhere new.

The Haydn opened with a genial, sunny, lyrical F major theme from the first violin (Sadie Fields), which remained prominent, though the ornamental elements were freely discussed by the others.  The Sypert Hall, already a bright airy venue, seemed even lighter.  The cheeky chromatic start of the sotto voce C-major second subject was delicious, made more so by the second violin (Gongbo Jiang) still clandestinely quoting the first subject, typical Haydn humour.  After an exposition repeat, the development was complex in its key explorations and counterpoint, even to the extent of becoming darkly spooky.  A general pause, Haydn’s way of saying “oops”, and the recapitulation restored the sunny mood, with some adventurous new departures in the bridge passages and the second subject promoted to mezza voce F-major.  A joy to listen to and, visibly, to perform.  The minuet was full of Haydn mischief, too fast to dance and with its 3-in-a-bar subverted by rocking 2-note figures that masked the identity of the up-beat.  Varying the first violin ornamentation slightly in the repeats added charm.  Sanctuary from this madness is provided by the Trio, D-flat major tranquillity in the ambience of a reading room.  It could be danced, but nobody is rising from their comfortable armchair.  The Trio has a Coda in which the violin seems to ask: “Do we really want to reprise that bonkers minuet”?  “Unfortunately”, the viola, second violin and cello in turn vote “yes”.  Who am I kidding with “unfortunately”?  It was a hoot.  The Andante (marked 2/4 but feeling 4/8) starts as a stately D-major march that gives rather the impression of an old aristocrat mooching along the corridors of his country mansion, dotted rhythms and ornate curlicues hinting whimsically at quirks of his gait.  As he walks, his thoughts begin to wander into flights of fancy.  Second violin and then cello take care of putting one foot in front of the other, but his gait is inevitably affected by the increasingly fanciful reverie, into which all instruments are drawn and out of which he is occasionally jolted.  The movement concludes, resuming the walk quietly and demurely as if nothing untoward has happened.  The  finale is less subtle and, after a chord that seems to say “Well, …” sets off briskly with short scampering phrases that settle into an agile romp with cheeky comments (such as an occasional loud “tiddle-umpum” from Mark Bailey’s cello).  The movement is exuberant and irreverent in its wild irregularity, and fantastically virtuosic for everybody.  A fugal episode and a Hungarian dance launch and sink, sabotaged by the forward momentum, which eventually comes to a screeching halt.  A slow cheeky exchange between first violin and cello swithers over continuing.  Then off they all set again on the final dash, the emphatic forte final chords sweeping aside a pianissimo decoy.  Haydn at the summit of his powers and wit, with his last completed quartet, in a compelling and characterful performance.  Excellent.

The opening bars of Schubert’s G minor D.173 (his Quartet No.9) had me thinking, not of Haydn, but of Mozart, specifically the Trio of the second movement of his No.14 in G major K.387, also in G-minor and with the same emotional weight that Mozart attached to that key.  The second theme in a major key: so far so Haydn.  Similarly the spookiness in the development.  The influence of both Haydn and Mozart was very clear, but there was also the emergence of an individual voice.  The embarking on key exploration in the exposition is very Schubertian, as was the embryonic sense of unease and vulnerability that would pervade his A-minor ‘Rosamunde’ quartet.  The stormy recapitulation and the emphatic conclusion spoke of a young composer not lacking in confidence.  The Andantino of the Schubert and the Andante of the Haydn we had just heard bore enough similarities (an ambling 2/4 that felt like 4/8 in a major key: the relative B-flat major for the Schubert) for it to be credible that they were by the same composer, though the Schubert had far less guile.  The dialogue between first violin and cello and the fondness for triplets were Haydnesque, but the overall “feel” was unmistakably Schubertian and very charming.  The gruff minuet was fairly generic rough-and-rustic, but with relief provided by the folkdance element and some stylish chugging quavers for the second violin.  Viennese foretastes of the second part of the sweet Trio of the A-minor flickered in that of D.173, though the template was pure Haydn.  Schubert the melodist stepped forward in the finale, with a beguiling rondo theme that is the stuff of indelible earworms.  In D.173, we had not yet heard the Schubert knack for wringing pathos out of a major key, but we did get the minor-key romp, and its gleeful mirth was infectious.  The viola (Catherine Marwood) did seem to get the lion’s share of the scampering semiquavers.  The other three movements were vaguely familiar, but the finale I knew I had heard before.  In 1815, it is way too early for a polka, so I would say it had elements of a galop and even a hint of csárdás - the episodes certainly had a Hungarian feel.  I was not the only punter leaving with a spring in his step and whistling that rondo theme.  Super.

The series continues through to next June, with the next concert on 23rd November.  Highly recommended.

Link:  https://www.edinburghquartet.com/events