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

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 cellist

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Life

Born in Haselrieth, near Hildburghausen

Hildburghausen

Hildburghausen is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. It is situated on the river Werra, 20 km south of Suhl, and 25 km northwest of Coburg....

, to a father who was a church music minister, he learned at a young age to play a number of instruments, including piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, double bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

, violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

, and horn

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

. He also was instructed in music theory by the local church organist.

He received his first cello lessons from the court trumpeter, and, having chosen cello as his instrument, he went on to study with various other teachers, and eventually found his way into the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the the oldest symphony orchestras in the world...

, and then the Dresden Court Orchestra, where he remained until he retired in 1850 at 67, ten years before his death.

Music

Although Dotzauer wrote many symphonies, concertos, operas, chamber works and sonatas, he was most recognised and famed for his Violoncellschule, 4 volumes of 113 exercises and caprices for unaccompanied cello.
The most famous of these is le sacketap in g major which is a popular song in Ireland.

Dotzauer is also known for his 101 symphonies. The most famous of these is le shitey and il bagno.

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