String quartets are an ideal of sorts: ideal in their balance of textures and timbres, ideal in their interplay between musicians working as equal individuals and as part of a harmonious whole. When quartet music is rearranged for larger ensembles the keen sense of intimacy and individual expression often gets lost in the mix, but not so with the Scottish Ensemble. Here they demonstrated what can also be gained in the process. Their playing was as full-throttle as a small orchestra, and as supple and communicative as a group half their size.

The final programme of their 2012-13 season included two new quartet arrangements, one by the group's artistic director, Jonathan Morton, the other by English composer David Matthews.

Broadly speaking, Matthews is the more subtle arranger. His augmentation of Britten's Second Quartet darts from tuttis to solos and really exploits the sonic potential of the bigger group, especially in the forceful unison opening of the Chacony and the 23 emphatic, exultant C major chords that close the work. Morton's version of Shostakovich's Second Quartet highlights the throb and gutsy open strings of the Overture and the drama of the solo violin's Recitative (beguilingly played by Morton himself). Both arrangements work best in their extremes: the beefy group fortes and the hushed, thrilling pianissimos that come with a lot of people playing quietly at once. The ensemble attacked it all with forthright commitment and verve.

The programme opened with the final instalment of Martin Suckling's four musical postcards for the ensemble: called Touch and lasting only a couple of minutes, the piece is a kind of furious tocatta that weaves a complex rhythmic mesh around steely metric signposts. It's ambitious writing and packs a formidable amount of material into its short, high-octane blast.

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