Peter Schidlof

Peter Schidlof OBE (9 July 1922 – 16 August 1987) was an Austrian-British violist and co-founder of the Amadeus Quartet.

Born in Vienna, Schidlof fled Austria for England following the Nazi Anschluss in 1938. He won a scholarship to Blundell's School in Devon. Following the start of World War II in September 1939 and enactment of Defence Regulation 18B, he was interned in Onchan Internment Camp on the Isle of Man as an enemy alien. It was while he was interned that he first met Norbert Brainin and Siegmund Nissel. After years of internment, like Brainin and Nissel, Schidlof became a pupil of Max Rostal, and it was Rostal who became the mentor of the Amadeus and persuaded Schidlof, who had been a violinist, to become a viola player. With Martin Lovett as cellist, the Amadeus gave their first concert at the Wigmore Hall in 1948. Schidlof’s separate contribution to the Amadeus is difficult to assess, so much were the four a team, although his nickname "Eagle ears" shows his particular insistence on technical accuracy. His calm, questing manner and his close knowledge of a wide range of music beyond the chamber music repertory, combined with his cultivated and kind manner as a person, were an important part of the quartet's alchemy.

Schidlof's playing was noted for its warm, sensitive and rich tone. This was also clear in his solo playing away from the Amadeus. Brainin and he often came together for Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. Schidlof performed solos on many occasions in Harold en Italie, where he characterised the solo part with a keen sense of Berliozian romanticism. He was always ready and willing to tackle contemporary work, and gave several premieres.

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