- Amadeus Quartet
- Walter Bergmann
- Norbert Brainin
- Gerhard Braun
- Carl Ebert
- Hans Gál
- Peter Gellhorn
- Roberto Gerhard
- Walter Goehr
- Berthold Goldschmidt
- Paul Hamburger
- Emmy Heim
- Alice Herz–Sommer
- Helene Isepp
- Martin Isepp
- Robert Kahn
- Alfred Kalmus
- Hans Keller
- Maria Lidka
- Else Mayer-Lissmann MBE
- Siegmund Nissel
- Karl Rankl
- Ferdinand Rauter
- Hans Ferdinand Redlich
- Franz-Theodor Reizenstein
- Max Rostal
- Peter Schidlof
- Mátyás Seiber
- Leopold Spinner
- Peter Stadlen
- Erwin Stein
- Richard Tauber
- Vilém Tauský CBE
- Francesco Ticciati
- Georg Tintner
- Ernst Toch
- Hans Peter Wallfisch
- Karl Weigl
- Egon Wellesz
- Ilse Wolf
- Leo Wurmser
Norbert Brainin
(1923 - 2005) violinist
Photo: Peter Rauter, reproduced with kind permission from Andrea Rauter
Biography
Born on the 12th March 1923 in Vienna, Norbert was only a teenager when he moved to London to have lessons with the violin pedagogues, Carl Flesch and Max Rostal in 1938. Although Norbert was fortunate enough to have escaped Vienna before the 'Anschluss', he was not fortunate enough to qualify fully as a UK citizen so was required to spend time in the Isle of Man internment camp as an 'Enemy Alien'.
One of the positives to come of this was to meet Siegmund Nissel and Peter Schidlof, his future chamber music partners in the 'Amadeus Quartet'. Once out of the internment camp, he worked in a metal factory as a machine tool fitter, whilst also gaining recognition as a soloist. He won the inaugural Gold medal in the Carl Flesch competition of 1946.
After this success, and now with Martin Lovett as the confirmed cellist for the quartet, Norbert was able to enjoy 40 remarkable years as the first violinist in the Amadeus Quartet as well as being a successful teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Hochschule für Musik in Cologne and the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" Weimar.
Related Links
- Norbert Brainin in the University of Hamburg online database of musicians persecuted during the Nazi Period (LexM)
- Norbert Brainin on Wikipedia
