Siegmund Walter "Sigi" Nissel (3 January 1922 – 21 May 2008) was an Austrian-born British

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist who played second violin in the Amadeus Quartet and served as its administrator. Sigi Nissel was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

to a Jewish family from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He began playing the violin at the age of 6. His mother died when he was 9. He was taken by his father to Vienna, where his teachers included Max Weissgärber. Nissel was evacuated from Vienna in 1938 to Great Britain. During World War II, Nissel was interned as a "friendly enemy alien" in Onchan Camp on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

where he met the

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

Peter Schidlof Peter Schidlof (born Hans Schidlof; 9 July 1922 – 16 August 1987) was an Austrian-British violist and co-founder of the Amadeus Quartet. Life and career Born in Göllersdorf near Vienna, Schidlof fled Austria for England following the Nazi ...

and later the violinist

Norbert Brainin Norbert Brainin, OBE (12 March 1923 in Vienna – 10 April 2005 in London) 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 Vie ...

. With the British cellist,

Martin Lovett Martin Lovett (3 March 1927 – 29 April 2020) was an English cellist, best known for his work for 40 years with the Amadeus Quartet, one of the leading string quartets at the time. Life and career Lovett was born in Stoke Newington (nor ...

, they would form the Amadeus Quartet. The Amadeus Quartet, informally known as the Wolf Gang, gave its first concert in London in 1948. The Amadeus Quartet made some 200 recordings, among them the complete quartets of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, and Mozart and works by 20th-century composers such as Béla Bartók and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

(who wrote his third quartet for them). Nissel played the "Payne"

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are c ...

of 1731. He married the statistician Muriel Griffiths in 1957, and they had a daughter Claire and a son Daniel."Siegmund Nissel, 86, of Amadeus Group, Is Dead", ''New York Times'', 24 May 2008 Following the death of Schidlof from a heart attack in 1987, the Amadeus Quartet disbanded. Nissel became a teacher of young quartets at the Royal Academy of Music, and died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

References

External links

Siegmund Nissel: Second violin and administrator for the Amadeus Quartet
obituary in ''The Telegraph'', 23 May 2008

obituary in ''The New York Times'', 24 May 2008 Jewish classical musicians Austrian classical violinists British classical violinists British male violinists Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United Kingdom after the Anschluss German emigrants to Austria 1922 births 2008 deaths People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II Musicians from Munich Musicians from Vienna German people of Austrian-Jewish descent German people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century classical violinists Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British male musicians Male classical violinists {{Violinist-stub

Further reading

References

External links