Contents
On August 16, 1987, violist Peter Schidlof dies of a heart attack at the age of 65. For a world-famous string quartet, the next step would seem obvious: find a new violist. The other three don’t. They consider Schidlof irreplaceable and disband the Amadeus Quartet – after some 40 years in which not one chair had changed hands. An example of the Team Principle of Attunement.
Three Refugees and a Londoner
Situation
Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and Peter Schidlof are Viennese Jews. After Austria’s “Anschluss” in 1938, they flee to Great Britain. There, during the war, they are interned as “enemy aliens.” Brainin and Schidlof meet in the Prees Heath camp, Schidlof and Nissel later in the camp on the Isle of Man. After their release, they study with the violin teacher Max Rostal, who charges them nothing. Through him they meet the London cellist Martin Lovett. In 1947 the four found the “Brainin Quartet.” At 19, Lovett is the youngest and, by his own account, has to learn German fast.
Connection to the team principle
The Team Principle of Attunement says: a team becomes good when everyone knows what the others know, what they can do and what they will do next. This knowledge has a history. Three of the four share their origins, their escape, internment and a teacher before they ever play a note together as a quartet. The fourth comes from outside and learns the others’ language. Attunement begins with one person adjusting to the others.
Four Voices, No Conductor
Situation
On January 10, 1948, they give their first concert as the Amadeus Quartet at London’s Wigmore Hall. Imogen Holst finances it. Brainin plays first violin, Nissel second, Schidlof viola, Lovett cello. It stays that way to the end.
Connection to the team principle
A string quartet plays without a conductor. No one stands at the front giving the cue. Each of the four has to hear what the other three are doing and anticipate what they will do in the next bar: who is slowing down, who is taking a breath, who is leading. That is the third part of the core statement in its purest form. Coordination here doesn’t happen through words, because no one can speak while playing.
About 40 Years, About 200 Recordings
Situation
Over four decades, they make about 200 recordings, including the complete string quartets of Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart. The quartet tours Europe, North and South America and Japan. Benjamin Britten writes his last string quartet expressly for the four. When they need additional players for a quintet or sextet, they regularly bring in the same guests: violist Cecil Aronowitz and cellist William Pleeth. Their honors include the Order of the British Empire, the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art and the Grand Prix du Disque.
Connection to the team principle
The lineup stays the same, and even the guests never change. This is no coincidence but a decision. Bring in a stranger, and you have to attune to one another all over again; bring in someone you know, and you can pick up where you left off. The four deliberately kept the circle of people they played with small – and in doing so protected what had grown between them over the years.
The Agreement
Situation
The four have an agreement: if one of them leaves or dies, he will not be replaced. When Schidlof dies in 1987, they keep their word. The quartet ends.
Connection to the team principle
The agreement says something about where the four believed their strength lay: not in four individual musicians, but between them. A new violist would have known the notes. But he could not have brought the four decades with him. You don’t have to draw the same conclusion – very few teams can afford to stop when someone leaves, and the principle doesn’t demand it. But the case makes clear what is lost with every change and has to be rebuilt.
Key takeaways
Key Lessons
- Count attunement as an asset. It doesn’t appear on any balance sheet, but a piece of it is lost with every change.
- Keep proven lineups together unless there are weighty reasons not to.
- When you need reinforcements, bring back the same people whenever possible. Anyone who has played with you before already knows your sound.
- Plan for time after every change. A newcomer has mastered their craft from day one – the interplay takes longer.
- Practice listening. In a good team, everyone pays attention not only to their own voice but to the others’.
Summary
From its founding until Peter Schidlof’s death, the Amadeus Quartet consisted of the same four musicians. They played without a conductor, always brought in the same guests and had agreed never to replace anyone. When one of them died, they stopped. It would be hard to show more clearly that the strength of an attuned team lies not in its individuals but in what they know about one another.