Dotzauer wrote over 250 studies for cello solo, possibly the greatest contribution to the development of the cello technique ever. The (in)famous selection operated by Johannes Klingenberg to reduce them to four books containing 113 studies graded by difficulty ruthlessly took away the soul of these pieces. Most of them, in fact, are gorgeous pieces of music, and should not be played with any less seriousness and respect than a Chopin prelude or a Bach fugue.

Relegating them to just the classroom where, in all honesty, few students will ever bring any of them to concert level before moving to the next is a waste. This first publication, in collaboration with Maestro Yuriy Leonovich, begins the process of giving these pieces back to the concert halls and stages where they rightfully belong.

The fourth book of studies—which Dotzauer called, in Italian, “Esercizi”—is among the most beautiful of his collections, with each piece offering a charming character and specific techniques to work on. They all require the thumb position in some way.