Georg Abraham Schneider was born in Darmstadt on 19 April 1770, the same year as Beethoven. As his musical talent became apparent at a very early age, his father sent him to J.W. Mangold, a "very skilful city musician", as an apprentice, where he learned all instruments except the piano. At the age of 17 he became a member of the Darmstadt court orchestra and at the same time took composition lessons. After an educational trip to Rheinsberg, he was engaged by Prince Heinrich of Prussia as horn player for the Rheinsberg Chapel. In 1795 he moved there, where many of his instrumental compositions were written and also printed from 1799. In 1802, after the prince's death, the chapel was disbanded, which prompted Schneider to move to Berlin, where he worked as a horn player in the Royal Prussian Chapel and as a music teacher. In addition, he became involved in Berlin's musical life, established musical event series and set up a musical practice academy to educate enthusiasts. After travelling for several years on concert tours as far as Riga and Königsberg, he returned to Berlin, where in 1820 he succeeded Romberg as music director of the royal theatre, where he appeared mainly as a conductor and eventually also took over the direction of the affiliated music school. When the Prussian Academy of Arts was founded in 1833, Schneider was elected a member. He taught composition there until his retirement in 1837 and died just over a year later on 19 January 1839 after a long illness.
The composer Schneider was a representative of the spirit of Haydn and Mozart, who wanted to be understood as their preserver; in the reviews, he was attested compositional skill and a dignified artistry that was indebted to bourgeois taste. A reliable overview of his extensive oeuvre, which covers almost all genres with the exception of piano works, including 25 orchestral overtures alone, is not yet available. His instrumental compositions were very successful, his work as an opera composer less so.
There is much to discover for the flute. In addition to a flute concerto op. 83, which is also said to have been published in various versions for other instruments and, according to MGG, even as a double concerto for flute and oboe as op. 88, there are several quartets for flute and string trio, a flute sonata, as well as flute duets, divertimenti for flute solo and 6 flute trios, of which the Trio No. 1 in D major is now available here in this new edition. The first edition, published by Monzani & Hill in London, served as the source. As usual, the articulation has been brought into agreement between the individual parts and would like to serve as a suggestion.
