announcing the Six Exercises for Cello Solo, Op. 116

This article is an expanded version of the Editorial Notes that can be found in the published edition, available as a printed book (here) as well as digitally (PayPal/Stripe — ApplePay/Credit card). A promotional video of this edition, with M° Yuriy Leonovich performing Exercise n° 6 alongside a scrolling score, can be watched here.

EDITORIAL NOTES

Dotzauer and his contribution to Cello Pedagogy

Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (1783–1860) was a pivotal figure in the history of cello performance and pedagogy. Born in Häselrieth, Germany, Dotzauer began his career in Leipzig, where he performed in the Gewandhaus Orchestra and co-founded the Gewandhaus Quartet. In 1811, he accepted a position with the Dresden Court Orchestra, where he worked under notable conductors such as Carl Maria von Weber and later Richard Wagner. Dotzauer’s contributions to cello literature extend beyond his work as a performer to his lasting influence as a pedagogue and composer, with over 200 études to his name. These études—ranging from foundational exercises to virtuosic caprices—form an essential component of the cellist’s repertoire.

Dotzauer’s 113 Studies, compiled and edited posthumously by Johannes Klingenberg (1852–1905) in 1891, are among the most enduring of his works. This collection has shaped the technical development of generations of cellists, serving as a cornerstone of modern cello pedagogy. His innovative approach to unaccompanied cello études, exemplified in works like the 24 Caprices in All Keys, Op. 35 (c. 1816), laid the groundwork for the genre. Dotzauer’s études bridge the gap between technical study and musical expression, maintaining a balance between pedagogical rigor and artistic sensibility.

6 Essercizi¹, Op. 116

Dotzauer’s 6 Essercizi [sic], Op. 116, were published by Simrock in Bonn in late 1830, bearing the plate number 2859. Subtitled “Parte 4ta,” this collection is part of a series of pedagogical volumes, preceded by Opp. 47, 54, and 70, each containing 12 exercises. Unlike the earlier volumes, Op. 116 presents itself as a more serious and cohesive cycle, with a pronounced musicality that elevates it beyond mere technical studies.

Among the six exercises in Op. 116, only No. 2—an étude focusing on trills with string crossings and preparation for double-stopped trilling—was later included in Klingenberg’s 113 Studies (Volume 3, No. 71). Klingenberg’s editorial approach added slurs, staccato patterns, and expressive markings to assist students in developing a nuanced interpretation. Dotzauer’s original score, by contrast, offers minimal editorial intervention, providing only essential fingerings and bowings for clarity in execution.

Each of the six exercises in Op. 116 reveals Dotzauer’s mastery of both form and technique:

• No. 1 serves as a polyphonic prelude in G minor, thematically similar to No. 6. The lighter B section is in G major;
• No. 2, as noted, emphasises technical facility with its focus on trills and string crossings;
• No. 3, the shortest in the set, resembles a German Minuet or Ländler, offering a moment of levity within the collection;
• No. 4 is a dramatic tour de force, reminiscent of Chopin’s “Ocean” Étude (Op. 25, No. 12). Elements of this étude were later adapted by Friedrich Grützmacher (1832–1903) in his arrangement of Boccherini’s Concerto in B-flat major;
• No. 5, a lilting Siciliana, stands out as the emotional centrepiece of the set. The B section features a technique evocative of Paganini’s Caprice No. 6 and the second movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, with shimmering trills and tremolo passages;
• No. 6, a two-voice fugue in the style of J. S. Bach, recalls the fugue from the Violin Sonata in C major, BWV 1005, and the prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I in B minor. As a culmination of the set, this étude highlights Dotzauer’s contrapuntal prowess and pays homage to the Baroque tradition.

The thematic and technical progression of Op. 116 reflects Dotzauer’s dual commitment to developing the cellist’s technical skills and fostering their artistic sensibility. While these pieces were conceived as pedagogical tools, their musical depth invites performance on the concert stage, particularly Nos. 4 through 6, which demonstrate a level of complexity and expressiveness comparable to celebrated solo cello works.

Editorial Approach

This edition is based on Dotzauer’s original text, with editorial changes carefully marked by brackets or detailed in footnotes. The intent is to preserve the integrity of Dotzauer’s work while providing modern cellists with the tools to engage with these études as both technical studies and concert pieces.

It is my hope that this Urtext edition will inspire renewed interest in Dotzauer’s 6 Essercizi, Op. 116, encouraging cellists to explore their pedagogical and musical potential.

Yuriy Leonovich

Greenville, South Carolina, USA

January 2025

Performance Instructions and Notation

The original notation by Dotzauer has been preserved everywhere possible. Considering the scarcity of fingering suggestions from Dotzauer, the Editors have added fingering suggestions in Italic typeface where deemed necessary and helpful. An exception is the thumb fingering suggestion, since italicising the glyph yielded poor graphical results; square brackets around an ordinary thumb glyph have been used instead. Every other fingering is to be considered original from the author.

The following custom symbol has been added above certain fingering suggestions to specify that the finger should be laid flat on two adjacent strings to cover the interval of a perfect 5th.

A fingering digit followed by a straight line and another digit implies the substitution of the first finger with the second at the specified rhythmical position.

Suggested or implied bowings have been added either through down- and up-bow glyphs in square brackets or through dashed slurs. Dotzauer did not repeat equal slurring patterns, nor did he reinstate a previous annotation when considered obvious. We have added dashed slurs whenever an omission could have led to confusion and the marking “[sim.]”—as in simile—when the repetition of the previous pattern was unequivocal.

In Exercise No. 4, the original bowings result in ending up-bow both the first page and the whole piece. This is not unusual in Dotzauer and should not be considered wrong per se; we have added footnotes to propose an alternative solution.

String markings have all been updated to the modern practice of employ Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV), instead of the “1ma”, “2da”, “3za”, “4ta” used by Dotzauer in the first edition.

Michele Galvagno

Saluzzo, Italy — February 27, 2025

CRITICAL NOTES

Sources

• A: autograph manuscript. Presumed to be lost.
• B: first edition. Bonn, Simrock, plate number 2859, published in late 1830. Title: VI | Essercizi | per il | Violoncello solo | Composti da | J. J. F. Dotzauer. | [in 2 columns, to the left:] Op. 116. | [to the right:] Parte 4ta | [continues centred:] Prezzo 2 Francs. | Bonna presso N. Simrock. | 2859.
• C: selection of 113 among Dotzauer’s studies by Johannes Klingenberg (1852–1905). Frankfurt am Mainz, Edition Peters, plate number 5958, published 1891. Third book, no. 71 corresponds to Op. 116 No. 2.
• D: selection of 150 among Dotzauer’s studies by Giuseppe Magrini (1857–1926). Milano, Edizione Ricordi, plate number E.R. 61, published 1918. Title: 150 STUDII | per violoncello | di | J. J. F. Dotzauer | scelti, riveduti e progressivamente disposti da | Giuseppe Magrini | Professore del R. Conservatorio G. Verdi di Milano |. Copy consulted: Torino, Biblioteca Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi”, shelf-mark III 694. Digital scans—taken by the staff of the Conservatory due to the poor conditions of the source—were purchased by the publisher of the present edition. The following correspondences are found:

Dotzauer Op. 116	Magrini 150 Studii
No. 1	62
No. 2	64
No. 3	63
No. 4	126
No. 5	148
No. 6	61

For reference, the middle C of the piano (first ledger line above bass clef or first ledger line below treble clef) is classified as C3.

No. 1

• b 21: added Ossia stave below for a possible alternative
• b 31: an alternative fingering could be 1-3-3
• b 41: the alternative fingering suggests remaining in second position up to the first note of b 42
• b 53: for those with weak 4th finger, it could be helpful to change position on the penultimate note (G-natural) to have the fifth G2-D3 taken with 2nd fingering. Same b 55 for the fifth D2-A2.

No. 2

• b 41, note 3: B has an E2, C has a G2, D has a D2. Klingenberg’s version has been applied in the present edition, with square brackets to signal the discrepancy between sources.

No. 3

• b 9: B has a D1 for the LH pizz. note. D has a G1. Our edition follows D.

No. 4

• b 1, note 7: B has an E2, D has an F2, following note 3 as musically logical. Our edition follows D.
• bb 18, 76: unslurring the last two notes allows starting b 19 (and end the piece) in down-bow. The slurring pattern in D is entirely different from B.
• b 26, note 13: both B and D suggest going back to first position in first string. The Editors recommend staying with the thumb on E3/A2 and play notes 13-16 on the second string.
• b 39, note 15: B has a B-flat1, while D has a more logical G1. Our edition follows D.
• bb 49-52: the editors suggest playing these bars slurred in four, instead of continuing the proposed 3+1 pattern. However, both solutions are plausible.
• b 72, note 9: B has a C2, while D has a C-sharp2. Our edition suggests keeping the bass on the Dominant, A1.

No. 5

• b 14, note 3: B has what looks like a thumb sign, a possible mistake from Simrock’s copyist since the logical fingering is 1, 0 (D-sharp2-A2). These two digits, if stacked one atop the other without sufficient spacing, could look as a thumb sign.
• b 23 downstem voice, note 1: B shows fingering 2, which would be awkward. D shows a 1, instead, which we considered more appropriate. The fingerings in the second half of the bar have been removed since they are equal to the first half and thus redundant.
• b 25 upstem voice, note 4: B shows a thumb sign for the C-natural4, which makes no sense with the E3 in the lower voice. D shows no fingering at all. We decided to suggest 1 as fingering for this passage.
• b 30, third subdivision of first beat: B shows fingering 1-1-2 when notes require 1-2-2.
• bb 40, 42, second beat: the slur is clearly missing. We have added it back in dashed typeface only in b 42 for vertical spacing reasons.
• bb 41-2: fingerings have been removed from these bars because they are equal to bb 39-40

No. 6

• bb 6-7: D uses two voices throughout
• b 63: added editorial slur. It is also present in D.
• b 67 downstem voice, beat 2: B shows fingering 1 for the A1. D correctly shows a 2, which we confirmed.
• b 92: both B and D propose fingering 4-4 for the first note. A more comfortable option could be 1-1.

1. This is the original title of the first edition, published by Simrock in December 1830. The correct, modern form in Italian is “Esercizi”, with one S only. Nevertheless, the form “essercizio” survived in several sources until well into the XIX century, making it possible for both Dotzauer and the publisher to consider it a plausible option.
   The word itself derives from the Latin “exercitium” and we find at least two sources from the XIII century (by Jacopone da Todi and in another text from the Abruzzo region) where the word is rendered as “essercizio/essercitiu”. Coeval texts from Tuscany, though, show only one –s–, even if most sources of the infant Italian language report the word with –x– as in “exercitium”. Dictionaries of the Italian language up to the 1860s include only the entry “esercizio”. From then, the V edition of the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca (1863–1923) and later revisions quote excerpts from the XIV-XVI century using “essercizio”.
   Finally, the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana mentions authors such as Berni, Tasso, Caro, and Marino using the variant with –ss–. A broader search of digitally available sources show that this archaic form would have not disappeared until the end of the XIX century, possibly following the reunification of the Kingdom of Italy (1861). ↩