Announcing the publication of the Caprice on themes from Weber’s Oberon, for Cello and Piano, Op. 96
This article is an expanded version of the Editorial Notes that can be found in the published edition, available as a printed book (on demand) as well as digitally (PayPal/Stripe — Apple Pay/Credit card). A promotional video of this edition can be watched here.
EDITORIAL NOTES — PART 1
Dotzauer and the Piano: Part I (1783–1827)
The name ‘Dotzauer’ is inextricably tied to the cello. Whenever his name is so much as whispered, his solo cello études seem to echo around us. There are good reasons for this, since the cello was Dotzauer’s main instrument, and the one for which he composed the most—yet he should not be remembered solely for his cello études, which, however numerous, represent only a small portion of his output. The cello was not his first instrument, though. Born in Häselrieth, near Hildburghausen in today’s Thuringia, Germany, on 20 June 1783, Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer would soon show an evident musical talent. It was in Hildburghausen—while living with his paternal uncle—that he received his first piano lessons from Johann Peter Heuschkel (1773–1853). Later on, he was tutored in composition by Johann Caspar Rüttinger (1761–1830), a student of Johann Christian Kittel (1732–1809), who, in turn, had been a direct student of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). While every subsequent event would bring the young Dotzauer ever closer to the cello, those first years at the piano would leave an indelible mark on his output as a composer. Moreover, his first son, Justus Bernhard Friedrich (1808–74), would rise to become a virtuoso pianist and a composer of highly sought-after pedagogical keyboard music. It was to this eldest son that Dotzauer would later dedicate one of his last compositions, the Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in E minor, Op. 180 (1851).1
Following his thorough musical training, Dotzauer would take up the cello around 1793 and pursue his studies with Johann Jacob Kriegck (1750–1814)—a student of Jean-Louis Duport—from 1799. Forced to find stable employment as a cellist, he apparently neglected both the piano and composition, his first published opus not appearing before 1804–5 (a set of eight variations for cello and basso on a theme taken from the cavatina ‘Voi troverete in me’ from the opera I Concorrenti al Matrimonio by Pietro Carlo Guglielmi (1772–1817)). Soon after joining the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig and establishing the Gewandhaus-Quartett (1805), and thanks in no small part to the publisher Ambrosius Kühnel, Dotzauer would begin a steady output as a composer, publishing about four titles per year and doubtlessly writing many more that remained without opus number or that have since been lost.
The first five years of his output (1805–10) would yield three collections of Waltzes for piano four hands (Opp. 5, 172, and 20). Soon after, the first two pieces for cello and piano would appear, a Divertissement, Op. 22, and a Duo, Op. 24:
Then, as if by magic, his piano output would go silent for almost ten years until a Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 46, and his piano method Der kleine Klavierspieler (The Young Pianist) in two parts, Opp. 48 and 53, would be published. Few would have expected that the future master of cello pedagogy would have written a pedagogical handbook for the piano four years (and seventeen opuses) before his first Violoncello School (Op. 65, 1824). At the time (1820), Dotzauer’s son Bernhard was twelve years old, and the father may have written this handbook in his honour.
The theme used in his Op. 1 and again, later, in the second book of Original Pieces for two cellos, Op. 58, would make a comeback in 1823 in his Two Themes with Variations, Op. 55, for cello and piano. Following a short pause dedicated to writing for solo instruments (cello, flute, and clarinet) with orchestral accompaniment, Dotzauer would return to a theme he was particularly fond of, the Polish folk song ‘Pije Kuba do Jakuba’, composing a set of variations for piano, viola, and cello (Op. 77, ca. 1825). An almost frantic two-year-long writing session for cello and orchestra (or, occasionally, string quartet)—four concertos, six fantasies with orchestra, three potpourris with string quartet, enriched by a handful of collections for solo cello or cello duo—would lead directly to Op. 96, the Caprice on Favourite Themes from C. M. von Weber’s Oberon, for cello and piano, the focus of this edition.
Dotzauer’s writing for piano is highly idiomatic, and betrays a profound knowledge of the instrument and an inclination towards virtuosic writing that is surprising for a composer mostly known for his cello works. Furthermore, counterpoint is a constant concern in Dotzauer’s writing, which consistently strives for a dialogue between the instruments, instead of a mere accompaniment role for the piano. It is unlikely that Dotzauer kept refining his piano skills after being appointed principal cello in the Dresdner Hofkapelle (1821), but having a virtuoso pianist son at home must certainly have been a source of inspiration for his writing.
Dotzauer, Carl Maria von Weber, and Oberon
Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) was born in Eutin, near Lübeck, Germany, three years Dotzauer’s junior. Based on these elements only, the two would not have had any real chance of crossing each other’s paths. Von Weber’s father, Franz Anton, though, was a military officer and was therefore always on the move, something that caused continuous interruptions in his child’s education. In 1796, their family arrived in Hildburghausen, where the young Carl Maria continued his musical studies and received piano lessons from the same J. P. Heuschkel who had introduced Dotzauer to the instrument. In the two years that von Weber spent in Hildburghausen, it is reasonably certain that the two met and spent time together, at least as fellow students. Their paths diverged again in 1798, with von Weber going to Salzburg to study with Michael Haydn, and Dotzauer heading for Mannheim to deepen his knowledge of the cello with Kriegck.
Dotzauer would leave Leipzig, the city to which he would ‘owe all his fortunes’,3 for Dresden in the first months of 1811 to work at the Hofkapelle. In 1817, then, Carl Maria von Weber would be appointed director of the same institution, a role that he would keep until his death, just nine years later. A few years earlier, in 1814, on a visit to the Hofkapelle, von Weber noticed a young cellist, Friedrich August Kummer (1797–1879), a student of Dotzauer’s, and favoured his engagement with the orchestra—though initially as an oboist. In 1821, Dotzauer would rise to the position of principal cello, with Kummer quickly joining him in the first stand; together with von Weber, the three of them would witness events that would shape the history of German opera forever.
In 1824, von Weber received an invitation from the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in London to compose and produce the opera Oberon. The librettist James Robinson Planché (1796–1880) penned a libretto from the English translation by William Sotheby (1756–1833) of the eponymous poem by Christoph Martin Wieland (1733–1813), itself derived from the chanson de geste ‘Huon de Bordeaux’.4 Von Weber accepted the invitation and, in 1826, reached England to complete the project and to at least conduct the premiere, at the same time strenuously fighting a losing battle with tuberculosis. He managed to conduct the acclaimed premiere and twelve sold-out performances between April and May, eventually dying during the night of 4–5 June 1826, aged 39, one day before his planned return home.
While the composer was not entirely satisfied with the final shape of the opera—he had planned a thorough revision of its structure and the addition of recitatives—, Oberon contains some of his most touching pages. Several composers, up to and including Gustav Mahler, tried their hand at revising Oberon, and its music may have positively influenced the writing of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Dotzauer would compose three works to honour the memory of his conductor, old-time fellow student, and friend, all inspired by von Weber’s last opera, Oberon: a Caprice on Favourite Themes for cello and piano—the focus of this publication—, Op. 96, an Introduction and Variations on a fanfare theme from Act II for cello and strings, Op. 98, and one of the three fantasies for cello and piano, Op. 106. Additionally, Dotzauer worked references to Oberon into his Six Pieces for three cellos, Op. 104: the final chorus of the opera provided the melody for the Allegro of the second piece, while Fatima’s Aria from the opening of Act III inspired piece No. 6.
Bottom Line
Thank you for reading so far. Come back next week for the second part of this deep-dive analysis of Dotzauer’s Caprice Op. 96 for cello and piano.
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Musically yours,
Michele
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