Dotzauer, Justus Johann Friedrich (1783–1860)

[4candles]

If I play peacemaker here, I do believe some turns of phrase and well-intended words, be they critical or simply observant, can be lost in translation in written communication - no doubt redoubled due to English not being everyone's first language.

I'm sure - if this had been an in-person, face-to-face forum - we would not have found ourselves where we are.

For these reasons, I don't believe anyone needs to apologise, as nobody sought to offend anyone else as it is a simple miscommunication/misunderstanding.

Both Dotzauer and the Schuberths deserve our attention, for different reasons, so let's get back to focusing on them as individual entities for now.

Wishing everyone all the best.

[Mark Thomas]

Fair enough. As you say, back to Dotzauer.

[terry martyn]

I have been following this thread with both interest and puzzlement.

Thank you,MG_ASE, for introducing me to Dotzauer. Your research has been fascinating and I hope it eventually leads to recordings.

You say that you are doing important work on the Schuberths and I would like to hear a lot more about them,perhaps in a separate thread. They were contemporaries of Lindpaintner and (Heinrich) Baermann,who have been attributed by musicologists to one and the same clarinet concerto (I know this for a fact,as I have an LP of the Lindpaintner ,played by Klocker, and a CD of the identical Baermann,played,naturellement, by Klocker,with different orchestras involved)..

[MG_ASE]

Thank you,MG_ASE, for introducing me to Dotzauer. Your research has been fascinating and I hope it eventually leads to recordings.

You say that you are doing important work on the Schuberths and I would like to hear a lot more about them,perhaps in a separate thread. They were contemporaries of Lindpaintner and (Heinrich) Baermann,who have been attributed by musicologists to one and the same clarinet concerto (I know this for a fact,as I have an LP of the Lindpaintner ,played by Klocker, and a CD of the identical Baermann,played,naturellement, by Klocker,with different orchestras involved)..

Hi Terry, thank you for your kind words.
After I finish this I could try a post on the Schuberths but I am very far from being an expert on them and since we have a descendant who is researching a lot on them, I would possibly ask for their support in this.
Plenty of interesting personalities at the time, especially in St. Petersburg.

[MG_ASE]

PART 5
Compositions
Being a composer at the time was not something extraordinary as it may be today: every single musician received a thorough and rigid training in harmony, counterpoint, and formal writing. Dotzauer's early formation blossomed in a most fruitful career as a composer, appreciated throughout his life^1. In the foreground we clearly have his immense catalogue of cello works: four schools, nine concertos, three concertinos, two-hundred-and-fifty solo études, three-hundred-and-thirty duets, several solo works. His chamber music was greatly appreciated by his contemporaries, reminiscent of Haydn in the beginning (in the first string quartets), and anticipating Schumann or even Brahms towards the end (in the piano trio). He wrote more than twenty string quartets, corresponding in the form to the four movement classical structure, with large-scale sonata-form movements and densely elaborated developments. Stylistically, they can be approached to Spohr's production. What is worthy to mention is his careful elaboration of voice leading, where the first violin and the cello do not have prominent roles compared to the other voices.
Of his major orchestral works, most sadly lost nowadays, we count a Grosse Symphonie in d-moll to which the AMZ dedicates a four-page review^2, at least one Overture, five Masses, and the opera "Graciosa", based on the drama "Hedwig, the Bandit Bride" by Theodor Körner. This work, which had its premiere on November 2, 1840, in Dresden, achieved a respectable success, but proved to be unviable and was removed from the program after a few performances.
Although most of his works are rarely played today, it is clear how he tirelessly strived to find new ways of using his instrument. Working against the lack of variety in existing study material, he succeeded in making this genre more interesting and pleasing by paying greater attention to melody and harmony—Bach's influence through his training with Rüttinger can be felt throughout his production. In his material, Dotzauer proves himself a systematic pedagogue who doesn't merely aims at creating the best virtuosos, but rather providing them with a complete and fundamental training of the highest standards of his time. That's why his production still forms the indispensable backbone of practice for every cellist who takes his art seriously.
He had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate these principles in his regular compositions, including several variations which—following the trend of the 1820s—mostly used themes of famous operas. His high level of "performing culture"^3 is evident in his works for cello and orchestra where the soloist part, while certainly being challenging, it is never prohibitively difficult and results in spectacular fireworks that are literally composed for the instrument.

The practicality and the delightful, these two considerations that this composer always unites and the precise knowledge of his instrument make his works equally appreciated by students and amateurs^4.

The sources mention how, until today, a detailed study of his whole output did not exist, and how deplorable it is that almost no one of his concert pieces are part of the current repertoire, let alone being available in practical editions. That's what the Dotzauer Project page is about, and it is my life goal to keep promoting Dotzauer's music so that it regains the stages where it rightly belongs.

^1 Most if not all reviews of his compositions contain, beside the praises, the phrase "as we would expect from him" in some form, showing to what high standard Dotzauer had spoiled his audience with.
^2 AMZ 1838, No. 20.
^3 MGG, see reference above in previous posts.
^4 AMZ, 1840 No. 51.