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The use of orchestral excerpts from standard music repertoire as a pedagogical means has been adopted by many instrumental pedagogues to train the advanced instrumentalist. This dissertation presents an innovative idea among the excerpt tradition by drawing excerpts from solo, chamber music and orchestral music to function as etudes for the intermediate level cellist. 320 music excerpts are drawn and organized under the headings of different technical categories in order to train the techniques within the context of quality music. The purpose of the dissertation is to introduce the young player to the concept that techniques and musical expression are not two separated entities, rather, techniques serve as a medium to convey the music.

Until the nineteenth century, the violoncello was considered a background accompaniment instrument. By 1900 however, over eighty method books had been published for cello, and Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss were composing orchestral cello parts equal in difficulty to those of the violin, traditionally the only virtuosic string part. The emancipation from the ties of bass ostinato for the cello began with Bernhard Romberg in Dresden. The group of cellists, who came to be known as the Dresden School, included Kummer, Lee, Goltermann, Cossmann, Popper, Grutzmacher, Davidov, and other cellists that were students and colleagues of this group. The Dresden School of cellists attempted not only to bring the instrument into prominence, but to revolutionize the technique of the instrument completely. The cello pedagogues of the Dresden School achieved this by publishing their methods and advancements in technique in cello etude and method books. This efficient process of dissemination allowed for the members of the school to improve on each other's work over time. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the cello pedagogy of the Dresden School was established through the etudes published by the cellist-composers of the Dresden School, and these etudes are still considered some of the most advanced studies for cello, and are the foundation of modern cello pedagogy. At the turn of the twentieth century the Dresden School was the leading cello school in the world, and no longer tied only to the city of Dresden, but spread throughout Europe and beyond. In the publishing of their etudes, the Dresden cellists not only passed down their information to their students, but also to future generations of cellists. Descendants of the Dresden School cellists are now performing in almost every nation and teaching the ideas born in nineteenth century Germany.