Announcing the publication of the Six Pieces for Three Cellos, Op. 104

This article constitutes the first part of 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

The rise of cello ensembles

One of the first questions that arose while planning the programme for the 2026 Dresdner Musikfestspiele’s ‘Dotzauer Abend’ (Dotzauer evening) was:

Did Dotzauer write for four or more cellos?

While the answer was a sad ‘No’, a careful and thorough examination may prove appropriate. Firstly, the question was perfectly legitimate: cello ensembles and even cello choirs are highly popular these days, and repertoire for them is always in great demand. Moreover, ever since classically trained cellists began taking the stage to perform arrangements of popular rock and pop hits, interest in this specific instrumentation has kept soaring. It was therefore natural to assume that Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (1783–1860), the absolute master of the cello, who wrote almost 350 pieces for two cellos—and about a dozen sonata-form duos—would have created at least a handful of cello quartets and, perhaps, a larger-scale work for eight or twelve cellos. Instead, and perhaps disappointingly, he did not; he stopped at a single collection of six pieces for three cellos, which forms the focus of this edition. This should not come as a surprise, however, because only one notable composer before then had attempted to write for four cellos: Jean-Baptiste Bréval (1753–1823). The French master effectively disguised a cello quartet as No. 5 of his 6 Quatuors Concertants et dialogués pour Deux Violons, Alto, et Basse, Op. 18 (1785). At the top of the first violin part for Quartetto V, he wrote:

This quartet was composed for four cellos, and must strictly be performed only by these same four instruments.¹

There are a few other examples of works for three cellos and basso continuo, but they are not proper cello quartets. The entire generation of Dotzauer—that is, those cellists born around 1780—and the first generation of their students continued to refrain from writing for this ensemble. This may have been because the cello’s popularity was still in its infancy or, possibly, that there were not enough amateurs choosing the cello as their main instrument. It is worth remembering the rapid rise in popularity—and, therefore, musical output—that the newly fashionable six-string guitar enjoyed between 1800 and 1815, with Dotzauer himself writing three pieces involving the instrument.² As soon as the guitar came into the spotlight, composers began to write more for it. A similar trajectory may have befallen the cello, thanks in no small part to Romberg, Dotzauer, and Kummer. Their talent, output, and remarkably detailed pedagogical contribution generated a momentum that brought the cello onto the world’s stage. Composers of the subsequent generations, from Georg Eduard Goltermann (1824–1898) to Friedrich Grützmacher (1832–1903), from Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1848–1890) to Julius Klengel (1859–1933), typically composed at least one—but more often several—works for four or more cellos, culminating in Klengel’s Hymnus, Op. 57, for twelve cellos (1920). From the second generation of the Dresden Cello School, then, cello quartets became a constant in every composer’s portfolio, a clear sign of the changing times.

The Six Pieces for Three Cellos, Op. 104

The Six Pieces for Three Cellos, Op. 104, by J. J. F. Dotzauer are a collection of independent pieces that can be performed either as a set or individually. There is no clear progression in difficulty in them, signalling that—at least originally—there may not have been a specific pedagogical intent behind their composition. While the first cello part is the most challenging of the three, the other two should not be underestimated either.

Hunting for the sources

The Six Pieces were published for the first time by C. F. Peters in Leipzig in 1828 and announced in issue No. 30 of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (AMZ) in December of that year. A subsequent reprint was issued seven years later, in 1835, in France by Richault. Both sources were consulted in preparing this edition, with clear priority given to the earlier one. The Peters edition is stored in Dresden at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek — Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) under shelfmark Mus.4634.P.13, bearing the following title:

Six | PIECES | pour | trois Violoncelles | COMPOSÉES | par | J. J. F. Dotzauer | Op. 104 (to the left) Propriété de l’Editeur (in the centre) Pr. 1 Rth. 4 Gr. (to the right) | LEIPZIG | au Bureau de Musique de C. F. Peters.

Annotated in pencil at the bottom of the page are the following elements: an annotation reading ‘[ca. 1827]’, the shelfmark of the SLUB (Mus. 4634-P-13, that is, with spaces and dashes), the stamp of the library, and a clearly crossed-out stamp bearing the text ‘Gr. 102’.

The Richault edition, by contrast, was available online for free consultation,³ but it was not possible to determine from which library the scans were originally taken. The plate number of this edition is ‘2554.R.’, and the title shown on the frontispiece is as follows:

Six Pieces | pour | Trois Violoncelles | Composées par | J. J. F. Dotzauer | Œuv. 104. — Prix 9.f | à Paris, Chez RICHAULT, Éditeur de Musique, Boulevard Poissonnière, N. 6, au 1.er.

Analysis of the pieces — Part 1

The Six Pieces encompass several musical forms:

• Simple ternary form (A-B-A) in a single, continuous section: Nos. 1, 6 (Larghetto)—although No. 6 is significantly more complex due to its contrapuntal writing;
• Fantasy, overture, and imitation: No. 2 (Adagio);
• Rondo: Nos. 2 (Allegro), 6 (Allegro);
• Compound ternary form (A in the home key, B in a related key—Subdominant, Dominant, Relative Major—, and A again, marked ‘Da Capo al Fine’ or presented in a slightly altered form): Nos. 3, 4, 5.

To assist teachers wanting to use one of these pieces in conjunction with a specific scale or exercise their students are practising or struggling with, here is a list of their home keys:

• No. 1: Bb major;
• No. 2: Adagio in A minor; Allegro in A major;
• No. 3: Scherzo. Allegro non troppo in C major; Trio in F major;
• No. 4: Andante maestoso in Ab major; second, untitled part in F minor;
• No. 5: Pastorale in F major; second, untitled part in D minor;
• No. 6: Larghetto in G minor; Allegro in G major.

For the same reason, it often happens that students struggle with particular time signatures. Focusing on such difficulties with pieces that are more appealing and more structurally coherent than mere exercises is likely to bear fruit.

• 2/4: Nos. 4, 6 (Allegro);
• 3/4: Nos. 1, 3, 6 (Larghetto);
• Common time (C or 4/4): No. 2 (Adagio);
• 6/8: Nos. 2 (Allegro), 5.

The following discussion, available next week, examines each of the pieces in turn.

Bottom Line

Thank you for reading so far. Come back next week for the second part of this deep-dive analysis of Dotzauer’s Six Pieces Op. 104 for three cellos.

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Musically yours,

Michele

1. Original text: ‘Ce Quatuor a été composé pour quatre Violoncels, et ne doit être rigoureusement exécuté que par ces 4 mêmes Instrum.ns (mettere ns in apice)’ ↩
2. Six Songs for Voice and Guitar, Op. 18 (1810, published as ASE 0065); the Pot-pourri for Cello and Guitar, Op. 21 (1811, published as ASE 0044); and the Eight Songs for Voice and Guitar, Op. 31 (1815, source still not found). ↩
3. https://imslp.org/wiki/6_Pieces_for_3_Cellos,_Op.104_(Dotzauer,_Friedrich). Accessed 24 May 2026. ↩