Geoffrey Dean
Bel Canto Cellists in America: Gaetano Braga
Listen to Souvenir d'Amerique The Italian composer and cellist Gaetano Braga (1829-1907), wrote his earliest musical works in his early...
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Geoffrey Dean
Aug 28, 20213 min read
Bel Canto Cello: Resignation and Rebellion in Verdi's I Masnadieri Preludio
A central feature of Italian opera through the 19th century, the bel canto singing style also influenced cellists of the Italian school...
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Geoffrey Dean
Aug 14, 20211 min read
Encore: More Music by Ernst Jonas
Back in June, I kicked off my series on Boston Symphony cellist-composers with a post on Ernst Jonas. Today I am excited to share another...
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Geoffrey Dean
Aug 10, 20214 min read
The Schroeder Brothers at Ballenstedt: Travel Log, Part 2
On Saturday, August 10, 2019, we drove into the northern Harz Mountain town of Ballenstedt, once the seat of the Duchy of Alhalt-Bernburg...
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Geoffrey Dean
Aug 9, 20213 min read
Faux-Farewells: Schroeder Travel Log, Part 1
Two years ago to the day, I went on a weekend road-trip with my good friend from our IU-Bloomington days, Berlin-based composer Petros...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jul 31, 20217 min read
Boston Symphony Cellist-Composers: Carl Bayrhoffer
Listen to Bayrhoffer's Wiegenlied Carl Bayrhoffer (1859-1926) was BSO first cellist for the latter part of the orchestra’s inaugural...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jul 23, 20212 min read
Humoresque: 2021 Illinois Chamber Music Festival
It has been a wonderful couple of weeks here in Bloomington, Illinois, where after a virtual festival in 2020 the Illinois Chamber Music...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jul 20, 20214 min read
Violoncello Voices, Part 2: From Eliot to Woolf
As we saw in Violoncello Voices, Part 1, the eloquent speech of male possessors of the violoncello voice is described in terms of...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jul 15, 20211 min read
For Christa's Birthday: "Cello a mellow refrain"
Ever used "cello" as a verb? Harry Williams did in the 1921 song "Mello Cello," originally performed by the “Bronson and Baldwin”...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jul 9, 20217 min read
Boston Symphony Cellist-Composers: Herrman Heberlein
Listen to Heberlein's Cavatine, Op. 26 A member of the Boston Symphony cello section from the fall of 1898 until 1909,/1/ Hermann...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 30, 20214 min read
Violoncello Voices, Part 1: Briand, Byran, Gielgud
The multi-faceted expressiveness of the cello’s tone has often been likened to the human voice. The description of Alwin Schroeder in...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 26, 20212 min read
Boston Symphony Cellist-Composers: August Suck
Listen to Suck's Tarantella here Originally from Bremen, Germany, August Suck (“Sook”; March 16, 1837-Aug. 18, 1921)/1/ was a member of...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 23, 20213 min read
Not So “Bass-ic”: Saying “violoncello”
At the end of a colorfully inaccurate cello-history sketch, a Detroit newspaper item from 1896 includes this instructive passage : This...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 19, 20214 min read
Boston Symphony Cellist-Composers: Ernst Jonas
Listen to Jonas's Nocturno, Op. 53, No. 1 Ernst [Ernest] Jonas (ca. 1845-1889)/1/ was a member of the BSO cello section from 1882 to...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 15, 20213 min read
Happy 166th Birthday, Alwin Schroeder!
On June 15, 1855, Alwin Schroeder was born in Neuhaldensleben, Germany, into “an atmosphere intensely musical.” He followed his father...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 10, 20212 min read
Alwin Schroeder, Etude Anthologist
Long before the appearance of the 170 Foundation Studies for Violoncello, Alwin Schroeder had established himself as both a scholar and...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 5, 20213 min read
Dedicated to Schroeder: Ashton's Phantasiestucke, Op. 12
London-based duo partners Evva Mizerska and Emma Abbate made a wonderful recording a few years back of cello music by the English...
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Geoffrey Dean
Jun 3, 20211 min read
Mellow Cello on the Mississippi: An 1819 Poem
Could this be the earliest use of the mellow cello rhyme? This poem appeared in the Nachez (Mississippi) Gazette on August 28, 1819: TO...
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Geoffrey Dean
May 29, 20211 min read
Welcome to the Alwinac!
Posts to the Alwinac blog will explore a rich array of Alwin Schroeder-related topics. Here you will find cello music that Alwin and...
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