Norbert Brainin

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

title: "Norbert Brainin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["jewish-classical-musicians", "austrian-classical-violinists", "british-classical-violinists", "british-male-violinists", "jewish-emigrants-from-austria-after-the-anschluss-to-the-united-kingdom", "austrian-emigrants-to-the-united-kingdom", "austrian-people-of-russian-descent", "musicians-from-vienna", "officers-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "commanders-crosses-of-the-order-of-merit-of-the-federal-republic-of-germany", "recipients-of-the-austrian-cross-of-honour-for-science-and-art", "1923-births", "2005-deaths", "larouche-movement", "people-interned-in-the-isle-of-man-during-world-war-ii", "20th-century-classical-violinists", "naturalised-citizens-of-the-united-kingdom", "male-classical-violinists", "20th-century-british-male-musicians", "world-war-ii-civilian-prisoners-held-by-the-united-kingdom"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Brainin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameNorbert Brainin
honorific_suffixOBE
birth_date
birth_placeVienna, Austria
imageAmadeusQuartet1.gif
captionBrainin (second from the left) with the Amadeus Quartet
backgroundnon_vocal_instrumentalist
genreClassical
instrumentViolin
past_member_ofAmadeus Quartet
death_date
death_placeLondon, United Kingdom
::

|name = Norbert Brainin |honorific_suffix = OBE |birth_date = |birth_place = Vienna, Austria |image = AmadeusQuartet1.gif |caption = Brainin (second from the left) with the Amadeus Quartet |background = non_vocal_instrumentalist |genre = Classical |instrument = Violin |past_member_of = Amadeus Quartet |death_date = |death_place = London, United Kingdom

Norbert Brainin (12 March 1923 – 10 April 2005) was the first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, one of the world's most highly regarded string quartets.

Because of Brainin's Jewish origin, he was driven out of Vienna after Hitler's Anschluß of 1938, as were Amadeus violinist Siegmund Nissel and violist Peter Schidlof. Brainin and Schidlof met in a British internment camp. Like many Jewish refugees, they had the misfortune of being confined by the British as "enemy aliens" after reaching the United Kingdom. Brainin was released after a few months, but Schidlof remained in the camp, where he met Nissel. Finally Schidlof and Nissel were released, and the three were able to study with violin pedagogue Max Rostal, who taught them free of charge. Brainin won the 1946 Carl Flesch International Violin Competition, which Rostal co-founded.

It was through Rostal that they met cellist Martin Lovett, and in 1947 they formed the Brainin Quartet, which was renamed the Amadeus Quartet in 1948. They became one of the most celebrated quartets of the 20th century; its members were awarded numerous honours, including:

The quartet disbanded in 1987 on the death of Schidlof, whom the surviving members considered irreplaceable. Brainin continued to perform as a soloist, often with pianists Günter Ludwig and Maureen Jones. In 1992, he performed a benefit concert in Washington, D.C. for then-jailed presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche.

His instruments included the "Rode" Guarnerius del Gesu of 1734, the "Chaconne" Stradivarius of 1725 and the "Gibson" Stradivarius of 1713.

References

References

  1. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/apr/11/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries Obituary: Norbert Brainin, The Guardian 11 April 2005]
  2. {{cite encyclopedia. Boris Schwarz. (2001). [[Oxford University Press]]
  3. "Reply to a parliamentary question".
  4. Murphy, Caryle, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121105192248/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1294134.html "Fund-Raiser for LaRouche Draws Complaints at GU"], Washington Post, 12/07/1988

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

jewish-classical-musiciansaustrian-classical-violinistsbritish-classical-violinistsbritish-male-violinistsjewish-emigrants-from-austria-after-the-anschluss-to-the-united-kingdomaustrian-emigrants-to-the-united-kingdomaustrian-people-of-russian-descentmusicians-from-viennaofficers-of-the-order-of-the-british-empirecommanders-crosses-of-the-order-of-merit-of-the-federal-republic-of-germanyrecipients-of-the-austrian-cross-of-honour-for-science-and-art1923-births2005-deathslarouche-movementpeople-interned-in-the-isle-of-man-during-world-war-ii20th-century-classical-violinistsnaturalised-citizens-of-the-united-kingdommale-classical-violinists20th-century-british-male-musiciansworld-war-ii-civilian-prisoners-held-by-the-united-kingdom