Two dynamic forces in art and in music in the second half of the 20th century were artist Saul Steinberg and conductor and violinist Alexander Schneider. They also happened to be life-long friends, part of a closely-knit circle of some of the world's leading artists, musicians, photographers and actors, who often gathered at Schneider's loft building on Manhattan's east side.

Schneider was described as "one of the most unquenchably energetic figures in the public musical life of the USA," by The New Groves Dictionary of Music & Musicians. Among many accomplishments, Schneider was a member of the legendary Budapest String Quartet and a guest conductor of major orchestras around the world. A recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, he was the founding Artistic Director of the annual New York String Orchestra Seminar, one of the country's most acclaimed professional training programs for young musicians at Carnegie Hall, which is a major beneficiary of grants from the Alexander Schneider Foundation. This is the first time that these works are being made available for sale to benefit the projects for young musicians supported by the Alexander Schneider Foundation.