Zilcher: Suite for 2 Violins and Small Orchestra, Op. 15

Description

In 1901, after completing his studies at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Hermann Zilcher moved to Berlin to pursue a career as a pianist and composer, but his compositional ambitions initially remained unknown there. His collaboration with the famous violinist couple Alexander and Lilli Petschnikoff, with whom he went on concert tours as their accompanist, was of particular importance during this time. He also composed works for them, including Two Pieces for Two Violins, Op. 7, the Double Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 9, a Double Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 9 and the Suite for Two Violins and Small Orchestra in G Major, Op. 15. From then on, these pieces were included in the artists' concert repertoire.

On 16 March 1904, Zilcher wrote in a letter to his much better-known colleague Engelbert Humperdinck – who had lived for a time in Frankfurt in the same house as the Zilcher family with the young Hermann: "I take the liberty of sending you tickets to my composition concert on 19 March in the Beethovensaal, 8 o'clock. Perhaps you would have the time and interest to listen to part of the programme? It begins with a symphony, then a song (from the choral work Reinhart!) with orchestra, followed by a violin concerto, then songs again & finally a suite for 2 violins and orchestra." (Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library, Humperdinck estate, A I b 5979)