I arrive early at Queen’s Hall, buzzing for the International Festival debut of the Fibonacci Quartet. Two of their members, Kryštof Kohout and Findlay Spence, were here last year as part of the Rising Stars programme. Now they return with the full ensemble, joined by Luna de Mol and Elliot Kempton, for a morning programme that mixes Scottish contemporary writing with Czech emotional candour.
Before the music starts, the announcer tells us about the Young Musicians Pass scheme, which has given 2,500 young people tickets to the festival this year. Fifty of them are here today, dotted through the audience, and you can feel the ripple of energy they bring to the room.
The Queen’s Hall, once a Georgian church, is now one of Edinburgh’s most diverse and beloved live music venues. Its conversion has made it a home for world-class soloists and ensembles, with a breathtaking atmosphere and a warm, clear acoustic that flatters chamber music. Many major artists have performed here, but today it’s these young players’ turn to add their name to the hall’s living history.
The programme opens with Helen Grime’s String Quartet No. 1 (2014), a 15-minute piece where instruments speak in tense, lyrical fragments. We are later told that it is a piece about her own experiences of child birth and early parenting years, and yes, you can hear it in the music, the passages of turmoil and the moments of quiet and relief. There’s an intimacy here that suits the hall, the sound almost tactile as the players pass lines between them.
Then comes Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters” (1928), born from over 700 letters to a younger woman he adored. Across its four movements, Andante, Adagio, Moderato, Allegro, the music flickers between confession and outburst, tenderness and agitation. In the hall’s warm acoustic, Elliot Kempton’s viola lines have a particular poignancy, shaded and human.
After the interval, we hear Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, “From My Life” (1876), written after the onset of his deafness. It’s a work of defiance as much as memory, with an opening Allegro vivo appassionato full of youthful passion, an Allegro moderato à la polka that grins through pain, a Largo sostenuto that sighs with loss, and a Vivace that climaxes with the famous long E-natural, a chilling reminder of the note Smetana heard ringing when he realised his hearing was gone. In Queen’s Hall, that sound hangs in the air like a ghost.
Before leaving the stage, the quartet offers a superb encore, “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady, given a fresh and playful rearrangement. They mention how much they love reworking music from both the musical theatre, modern pop and heavy metal worlds, and they do it with such skill and cheek that it’s easy to imagine a festival or fringe crowd absolutely lapping it up. It’s spirited, precise, and brimming with character, one of the standout moments of the morning, and a perfect send-off.
We are released off into the bright morning humming along and smiling. The Fibonacci Quartet may be making their festival debut, but with a programme like this, and playing of such poise and conviction, they feel entirely at home on this stage. I can’t wait to see what they serve up next year!
Reviewer: Greg Holstead
Reviewed: 9th August 2025
North West End UK Rating:
Running time – 1hr 40mins (with interval)
