Alwin Schroeder's performing career as a cellist began when he was twenty years old, and continued for over fifty years. Until 1891 he appeared in many German cities as a cello soloist and chamber musician, and had multiple concert trips to Belgium, Russia, etc. After 1891 he became the second most frequent soloist of the Boston Symphony, just behind concertmaster Franz Kneisel, and was heard regularly in major American cities. By the time he resigned from the Kneisel Quartet in 1907, Schroeder had achieved great popularity throughout the United States as a featured soloist on the Quartet's annual tours. In Kneisel Quartet concerts, he often played movements from the Bach cello suites, becoming the first cellist to perform them widely in the US. Schroeder was also among the first to perform Dvorak's beloved Cello Concerto in B minor, a work the composer consulted him on while writing it.

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Alwin Schroeder was closely associated with the works below early in their performance history. Some of them were heard for the first time in Schroeder's interpretation in local, national, or world premiere performances. Information sources are cited where possible. Additions and corrections are welcomed!

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Karl Davidoff                      Cello Concerto No. 4 in E minor, Op. 31 (1880) 

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Alwin Schroeder performed Karl Davidoff's fourth concerto for his solo debut with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, on November 25, 1880. read more

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Julius Klengel                      Capriccio in D minor, Op. 3 (before 1882)

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After cellist-composer Julius Klengel dedicated his Op. 2 to his Leipzig colleague Alwin Schroeder. Schroeder was a frequent performer of Klengel's Capriccio, Op. 3.  read more

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Edvard Grieg                       Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 (1883)

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Alwin Schroeder performed the Grieg sonata in Germany as early as 1885. read more

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David Popper                      Spinnlied, Op. 55, No. 1 (1884)

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Alwin Schroeder was among the first cellists to perform David Popper's Spinnlied, following the composer himself and the work's dedicatee, Julius Klengel. read more

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Ferruccio Busoni                Kleine Suite, Op. 23 (1886)

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Busoni dedicated his five-movement Kleine Suite to Alwin Schroeder, with whom he gave the world premiere in the fall of 1886. read more  

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Willem Kes                          Concerto for cello and orchestra (ca. 1886)

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Alwin Schroeder gave the German premiere of this work at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on October 25, 1888, and appears to performed it in other countries as well. read more 

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Richard Strauss                   Sonata in F Major, Op. 6 (1883)

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In 1890, Alwin Schroeder performed the Strauss sonata with the composer in Leipzig. read more

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Johannes Brahms               Sonata in F Major, Op. 99 (1886)

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Alwin Schroeder toured Germany in 1887 with an all-Brahms program that included some of the earliest performances of the Brahms F Major cello sonata. read more

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Ferruccio Busoni               Kultaselle Variations, BV 237 (1889)

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Schroeder and Busoni's performance of the work on Schroeder's April 8, 1892 Boston recital was a likely US premiere. read more

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Max Bruch                         Canzone, Op. 55 (1890)

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Alwin Schroeder and Boston Symphony music director Arthur Nikisch gave the US premiere of Bruch's Canzone on Schroeder's April 8, 1892 Boston recital in Bumstead Hall. read more

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Johannes Brahms              Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 (1887)

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Alwin Schroeder performed as cello soloist in the Brahms double concerto before his arrival in the US, and had played in the orchestra for the work's Leipzig premiere. read more

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Frederic Chopin                Lento, Op. 25, No. 7, for cello and strings

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Around the turn of the twentieth century, Alwin Schroeder's performances of the Chopin/Franchomme Lento were heard on Kneisel Quartet concerts throughout the US. 

read more  

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Charles Martin Loeffler   Fantastic Concerto for cello and orchestra (1893)

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On February 2/3, 1894, Alwin Schroeder was the soloist in the world premiere of the Fantastic Concerto, one of Loeffler's earliest orchestral works. read more 

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Hans Pfitzner                     Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 1 (1890)

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Alwin Schroeder gave its Boston, and possibly US, premiere with pianist Arthur Whiting on a Kneisel Quartet concert at Union Hall, December 31, 1894. read more

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Antonin Dvorak                Waldesruhe, Op. 68, No. 5, for cello and orchestra

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In 1895 Schroeder was the soloist in the likely US premiere of Dvorak's new orchestrated version of Waldesruhe (Silent Woods). read more 

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Antonin Dvorak                Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 (1895)

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On December 18/19, 1896, Alwin Schroeder gave the US premiere of the complete concerto, with Emil Paul conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. read more

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Pietro Locatelli                  Sonata in D Major

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Alwin Schroeder was among the first cellists to perform Piatti's famous Locatelli sonata arrangement in the United States. read more

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Johann Sebastian Bach    Suite No. 3 in C Major

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Alwin Schroeder performed movements of solo Bach occasionally during his Leipzig years, and with notable regularity in the US between 1899 and 1912. read more

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Erno Dohnanyi                 Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 8 (1899)

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On February 26, 1901, Alwin Schroeder and the pianist-composer performed the probable US premiere of Dohnanyi cello sonata. read more

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Eugen d'Albert                    Concerto in C Major, Op. 20 (1899) 

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On March 8, 1901, the US premiere of the d'Albert cello concerto took place simultaneously in New York (with Hugo Becker as soloist) and Boston (with Alwin Schroeder as soloist). read more

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Henry Holden Huss          Sonata in A Major (before 1909)

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On January 30, 1909, Alwin Schroeder and the composer gave the world premiere of this four-movement sonata, which Huss had dedicated to Schroeder. read more

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Max Fiedler                        Sonata in E-flat Major (before 1909)

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Alwin Schroeder and the composer gave the US premiere of the Fiedler sonata on the April 13, 1909 Boston concert of the Hess-Schroeder Quartet. read more

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Howard Brockway            Suite in E minor, Op. 35 (ca. 1909)

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Alwin Schroeder and the composer gave the world premiere of the Brockway Suite on a Hess-Schroeder Quartet concert at Boston's Jordan Hall, November 29, 1909. read more 

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Arthur Foote                     Aubade, Op. 77 (1912)

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On February 19, 1914, Alwin Schroeder and the composer gave the world premiere of the Foote Aubade at Jordan Hall in Boston. read more

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