Josef Werner was born in Würtzburg, Germany, on June 25, 1837, and died in Munich, Germany, on November 14, 1922. Approximate performance time is six minutes.

Josef Werner initially studied music in his native Würtzburg. In 1852, Werner moved to Munich, where he studied at the Conservatory. His cello teachers included Joseph Mentor and Hyppolit Müller. The latter was a member of the Munich Court Orchestra, which Werner joined in 1856. Werner taught at Munich’s Royal Academy of Music. He authored treatises on cello performance and composed numerous studies for the instrument.

Josef Werner also composed concert works for cello, including his Elegie, Opus 21 (1889). Scored for a quartet of cellos, the Elegie opens with a brooding slow-tempo Introduction (Adagio), in D minor. The key shifts to D Major for the principal Allegro moderato, as the first cello sings the lovely central melody. Cast in A—B—A form, the Elegie closes with a reprise of the principal melody (Tempo I), capped by a forte resolution.