Encouraged by his father to pursue a musical career, Johann Justus Friedrich Dotzauer (1783-1860) studied the piano and violin before eventually choosing the cello as his main instrument. His talent was clear to all early on, and he began giving concerts by the time he was fifteen. A few years later, he was serving as a cellist in the court orchestra of Meiningen. Eventually, he was able to obtain the prestigious position of solo cellist in the Royal Orchestra at Dresden. His playing dazzled all who heard it, and his skills as a teacher resulted in what became known as the "Dresden school" of cello performance. He concertized to much acclaim throughout Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and France, continuing to perform in public right up until his retirement in 1850. Many of his students became famous cellists in their own right and include such names as Friedrich Grützmacher, Bernhard Cossmann, and Julius Goltermann.
Dotzauer’s Quartet for Flute and Strings in E Major, Op.57 dates from 1822 and is the third of three such works he was to compose. The music is in the late classical style with echoes of Haydn and Mozart. The appealing main theme to the opening movement, Allegro, is introduced first by the violin and then taken over and developed by the flute. An interesting conversation between the flute and violin follows. The strings begin the theme first and then the flute replies in the lovely second movement, Andante, which is a set of variations though not so marked. A charming Scherzo comes next. It is actually more like a minuet as it would be possible to dance to this music. The finale, also an Allegro, has a series of catchy, toe-tapping themes. While the flute takes the part that the first violin would have in a standard string quartet, this is by no means a show-off work for the flute. The other voices are given chances to shine.