Earlier in the year I was able to record a handful of cello pieces to add to the collection on my YouTube channel, and today I actually added them to the collection! Of course there is a story behind each of these pieces, and I hope to get around to telling these stories in the near future. For now, here are the video links, with some suggestions for further reading and my wish for pleasant listening.
F. Prume, Melancolie, Op. 1. Several European cellists, George Knoop and Theodore Ahrend among them, played versions of this once-popular violin piece after settling in the United States. Read my post about Ahrend here. The Knoop story is on the way.
Julius Klengel, "Lento" from Suite in E minor, Op. 1. Klengel and Alwin Schroeder had parallel cello careers in Germany in the 1870s and 1880s; read about them in my Tale of Two Cellists post.
Leo Schulz, Dumka. Schulz was Alwin Schroeder's stand partner in the Boston Symphony for seven seasons before relocating to New York. When the Dumka and two other character pieces based on dances from Schulz's native Poland were published in 1928, Schulz was finishing out his career as principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic under Toscanini. A proper Schulz post in my Boston Symphony cellist-composers series is coming soon.
Carl Schroeder, Neapolitan Dance, Op. 11. Alwin published this piece by his older cellist brother in his Concert Repertoire collection, and I thought it was about time to record it. It uses the cello's resources very cleverly, including a section entirely in natural harmonics. For more on Carl Schroeder, read my Sondershausen travel log and my post on Alwin as a self-taught cellist.
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