Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (20 January 1783 – 6 March 1860) was a German

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Life

Early life and career

Dotzauer was born in 1783 in , near

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

. His father, a pastor, encouraged his interest in music. In early years he played piano, violin and cello, also horn and clarinet, and studied theory and composition with the organist , a pupil of Johann Christian Kittel. In

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

he studied the cello with , Konzertmeister of the

Meiningen Court Orchestra The Meiningen Court Orchestra () is one of Europe's most time-honoured orchestras. Since 1952, the 68-member ensemble has been affiliated with the Meiningen Court Theatre, where it regularly performs opera, symphony concerts, and youth concerts. ...

; from 1801 Dotzauer was a member of the orchestra."The Dresden School" (from ''History of the Violoncello'' by Lev Ginsburg (Paginiana Publications, 1983))
www.celloheaven.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
''

Neue Deutsche Biographie (''NDB''; Literal translation, literally ''New German Biography'') is a Biography, biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 27 volumes published thus far co ...

'', volume 4 (1959). He moved in 1805 to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, where he played in the Gewandhaus Orchestra. During this period he visited the cellist

Bernhard Romberg Bernhard Heinrich Romberg (November 13, 1767 – August 13, 1841) was a German cellist and composer. Life Romberg was born in Dinklage. His father, Anton Romberg, played the bassoon and cello and gave Bernhard his first cello lessons. He f ...

in Berlin, who influenced his playing. With Heinrich August Matthaei, Bartolomeo Campagnoli and Johann Georg Hermann Voigt, Dotzauer was a founder of the Gewandhaus Quartet.

Dresden

In 1811 Dotzauer was appointed cellist of the Dresden Court Orchestra; from 1821 he was principal cellist. During this time in the orchestra he played under

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

, and later under

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, playing in the premieres of Wagner's operas ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an 1842 opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rienzi' ...

'' and '' The Flying Dutchman''. He made concert tours of Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. He was a noted teacher, his students including Friedrich August Kummer and Karl Drechsler. His two sons Justus Bernhard Friedrich and Karl Louis became musicians. Dotzauer remained in the orchestra until retirement in 1850; he died in Dresden in 1860.

Compositions

Dotzauer composed many studies and exercises for solo cello; other compositions include masses and other church music, an opera, 9 cello concertos, and chamber music including string quartets.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dotzauer, Friedrich 1783 births 1860 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German male musicians Composers for cello German classical cellists German male classical composers German Romantic composers People from Saxe-Hildburghausen 18th-century German composers Players of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra