Norbert Brainin, 82; Violinist Was a Leading Player of Chamber Music

Norbert Brainin, 82, one of the 20th century’s leading chamber musicians, died April 10 of cancer in Harrow, north of London.

For four decades, he was first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, which made its debut performance in London in 1948. The group quickly gained an international reputation for its skillful playing of the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Mozart.

Born into a Jewish family in Vienna, Brainin was inspired to take up the violin at age 6 after hearing a performance by the young Yehudi Menuhin. Just before World War II, he fled to England with his family. After war broke out, Brainin was held for a few months in an internment camp, where he met Austrian violinist Peter Schidlof, who would join Brainin in founding the quartet.

The group, which first toured the U.S. in 1953, stayed together until the death of Schidlof in 1987. Brainin then continued as a solo violinist, often playing a 1713 Stradivarius he bought in 1988 for $1.2 million.

In later years, Brainin taught at the Cologne Music Academy in Germany and at the Royal Academy of Music in London.