It might seem odd to think of Max Bruch as a twentieth century composer. After all, his three “Greatest Hits” were all written in the 19th century—his Violin Concerto in G Minor, his “Scottish Fantasy” for violin and orchestra, and his setting of the Hebraic liturgical chant “Kol nidrei” for cello and orchestra.

But this archetypal German Romantic composer, who was born in 1838, lived to the ripe old age of 82, and kept producing new works up to the time of his death in 1920.

One of these, a Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, was commissioned by an American duo piano team, Ottilie and Rose Suttro, who gave the work’s premiere performance with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra on today’s date in 1916. The American reviews were glowing in their praise: “It should bring a lively satisfaction to one of the great men of musical history to be made aware of the unequivocal recognition of the merit of his work at its first public hearing by Philadelphia audiences.”

There is a somewhat ironic historical footnote to this premiere, however. It appears the Suttro Duo didn’t necessarily subscribe to the “great men of musical history” theory themselves. They drastically revised and even rewrote parts of Bruch’s score for their 1916 performance, unbeknownst to the composer. It wouldn’t be until 1971 that the Concerto was performed as he had actually written it.