View source for Louis Spohr

{{short description|German composer, violinist and conductor (1784–1859)}}
{{Redirect|Spohr|others with the surname|Spohr (surname)}}
[[File:Spohr-autoportrait.jpg|thumb|upright|Spohr self-portrait]]

'''Louis Spohr''' ({{IPA|de|ˈluːi ˈʃpo:ɐ|}}, 5 April 1784{{spaced ndash}}22 October 1859), baptized '''Ludewig Spohr''',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2MPXSVcdzPUC&q=ludewig Cf. Brown 1984, p. 3.]</ref> later often in the modern German form of the name '''Ludwig''',  was a German [[composer]], [[violin]]ist and [[conducting|conductor]].

Highly regarded during his lifetime,<ref>''Musical World'', xviii, 1843, p. 259</ref> Spohr composed ten [[Symphony|symphonies]], ten [[opera]]s, eighteen [[violin]] concerti, four [[clarinet]] concerti, four [[oratorio]]s, and various works for small ensemble, chamber music, and art songs.<ref name="ReferenceA">Clive Brown. "Spohr, Louis." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 18 May 2012</ref>  Spohr invented the violin [[chinrest]] and the orchestral [[Rehearsal letter|rehearsal mark]]. His output spans the [[Transition from Classical to Romantic music|transition]] between [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] and [[Romantic music]],<ref name="ReferenceA" /> but fell into obscurity following his death, when his music was rarely heard. The late twentieth century saw a modest revival<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cairns |first=David |date=2023-08-01 |title=Spohr: String Quartets Op 29, No 3, Op 58, No 3 Concertino String Quartet |newspaper=[[The Times]] |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/classical-opera/article/spohr-string-quartets-op-29-no-3-op-58-no-3-concertino-string-quartet-dtk7tj27g2z |access-date=2023-08-01 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> of interest in [[List of compositions by Louis Spohr|his oeuvre]], primarily in Europe, but his reputation has never been restored to that during his lifetime.

==Life==
Spohr was born in [[Braunschweig]] in the duchy of [[Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]] to Karl Heinrich Spohr and Juliane Ernestine Luise Henke on 5 April 1784;<ref name=":0">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Louis Spohr |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Spohr |access-date=11 January 2025}}</ref> then in 1786 the family moved to [[Seesen]].<ref>[[#Reference-idAnderson1994|Anderson, 1994]]</ref> Spohr's first musical encouragement came from his parents: his mother was a gifted singer and pianist, and his father played the flute. A violinist named Dufour gave him his earliest violin teaching. The pupil's first attempts at composition date from the early 1790s. Dufour, recognizing the boy's musical talent, persuaded his parents to send him to Brunswick for further instruction.

[[File:Louis Spohr.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bust of Spohr]]
The failure of his first concert tour, a badly planned venture to Hamburg in 1799, caused him to ask [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick]] for financial help. A successful concert at the court impressed the duke so much that he engaged the 15-year-old Spohr as a chamber musician. In 1802, through the good offices of the duke, he became the pupil of [[Franz Eck]] and accompanied him on a concert tour which took him as far as [[Saint Petersburg]]. Eck, who completely retrained Spohr in violin technique, was a product of the [[Mannheim school]], and Spohr became its most prominent heir.<ref>[[#Reference-idWeyer1980|Weyer 1980]], p. 10.</ref> Spohr's first notable compositions, including his Violin Concerto No. 1, date from this time. After his return home, the duke granted him leave to make a concert tour of North Germany. A concert in [[Leipzig]] in December 1804 brought the influential music critic [[Friedrich Rochlitz]] "to his knees," not only because of Spohr's playing but also because of his compositions. This concert brought the young man overnight fame in the whole German-speaking world.

In 1805, Spohr obtained a position as concertmaster at the court of [[Gotha]], where he stayed until 1812. There he met the 18-year-old [[harp]]ist and pianist [[Dorette Spohr|Dorette Scheidler]], daughter of one of the court singers. They were married on 2 February 1806, and lived happily until Dorette's death 28 years later. They performed successfully together as a violin and harp duo (Spohr having composed the Sonata in C minor for violin and harp for her), touring in Italy (1816–1817), England (1820) and Paris (1821), but Dorette later abandoned her harpist's career and concentrated on raising their children.

In 1808, Spohr practiced with [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] at the latter's home, working on the [[Piano Trios, Op. 70 (Beethoven)|Piano Trio, Op. 70 No. 1, ''The Ghost'']]. Spohr wrote that the piano was out of tune and that Beethoven's playing was harsh or careless. In 1812, Spohr conducted a concert in the {{lang|de|[[Predigerkirche (Erfurt)|Predigerkirche]]}} of the [[First French Empire|French]]-occupied [[Principality of Erfurt]] to celebrate [[Napoleon]]'s 43rd birthday.<ref name="Erfurt Chronik 1806–1814">{{cite web |url=http://www.erfurt.de/ef/de/erleben/entdecken/geschichte/chronik/111885.html |title=1806–1814: Erfurt unter französischer Besetzung |date=22 January 2013 |trans-title=1806–1814: Erfurt under French occupation |publisher=Erfurt Stadtverwaltung [Erfurt city administration] |language=de |access-date=2 January 2016 }}</ref> Spohr later worked as conductor at the [[Theater an der Wien]], Vienna (1813–1815), where he continued to be on friendly terms with Beethoven; subsequently he was opera director at Frankfurt (1817–1819) where he was able to stage his own operas — the first of which, ''[[Faust (Spohr)|Faust]]'', had been rejected in Vienna. Spohr's longest period of employment, from 1822 until his death, was as the director of music at the recently succeeded  [[William II, Elector of Hesse]]'s court of [[Kassel]], a position offered him on the suggestion of [[Carl Maria von Weber]]. 

In Kassel on 3 January 1836, he married his second wife, the 29-year-old Marianne Pfeiffer, daughter of the [[jurist]] [[Burkhard Wilhelm Pfeiffer]]. She survived him by many years, living until 1892.

In 1851 the elector refused to sign the permit for Spohr's two months' leave of absence, to which he was entitled under his contract, and when the musician departed without the permit, a portion of his salary was deducted. In 1857 he was pensioned off, much against his own wish, and in the winter of the same year he broke his arm, an accident which put an end to his violin playing. Nevertheless, he conducted his opera ''[[Jessonda]]'' at the fiftieth anniversary of the Prague Conservatorium in the following year. In 1859 he died at Kassel on 22 October.<ref name=":0" />

Like [[Haydn]], [[Mozart]], and his own slightly older contemporary [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel|Hummel]], Spohr was an active [[Freemason]].<ref>''The Harvard Dictionary of Music'', edited by Don Michael Randel, 4th ed. (Cambridge, Mass.; London: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2003), s.v. "Freemasonry and Music," pp. 333–334. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01163-2}}.</ref> He was also active as a violin instructor and had about 200 pupils throughout his career – many of them becoming famous musicians.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} His notable pupils included violinists [[Henry Blagrove (violinist)|Henry Blagrove]] and [[Henry Holmes (composer)|Henry Holmes]]. {{See LMST|Louis|Spohr}}

==Works==
{{listen
|header=Sechs Deutsche Lieder, Op. 103
 | filename     = Louis Spohr  -  Sei Still Mein Herz.ogg
 | title        =1. Sei still, mein Herz
 | description  =
 | filename2    = Louis Spohr  -  Zwiegesang.ogg
 | title2       = 2. Zwiegesang
 | description2 =
 | filename3    = Louis Spohr  -  Sehnsucht.ogg
 | title3       = 3. Sehnsucht
 | description3 =
 | filename4    = Louis Spohr  -  Wiegenlied.ogg
 | title4       = 4. Wiegenlied
 | description4 =
 | filename5    = Louis Spohr  -  Das Heimliche Lied.ogg
 | title5       = 5. Das heimliche Lied
 | description5 =
 | filename6    = Louis Spohr  -  Wach auf!.ogg
 | title6       = 6. Wach auf!
 | description6 = Soprano {{Interlanguage link|Montserrat Alavedra|ca|3=Montserrat Alavedra i Comas}} is joined by [[William McColl (clarinetist)|William McColl]], clarinet (ca 1820), and Joseph Levine, fortepiano
}}
{{See also|List of compositions by Louis Spohr}}

As a  composer, Spohr produced more than 150 works with [[opus number]]s, in addition to a number of nearly 140 works without such numbers. He wrote music in all genres. His nine [[Symphony|symphonies]] (a tenth was completed, but withdrawn: Cf.<ref name="selbstbiographie">"Louis Spohr's Selbstbiographie", 2 vols., Kassel und Göttingen 1860/61; Vol. II, p. 379. A near-contemporary English translation, of uneven quality but a fascinating read for anybody interested in 19th century musical life, has been re-published by the Travis & Emery Music Bookshop in Charing Cross Road, London</ref>) show a progress from the classical style of his predecessors to [[program music]]: his sixth symphony represents successive styles from "Bach–Handel" to the moderns; his seventh symphony represents the 'sacred and secular in human life' with a double orchestra; and his ninth symphony represents ''Die Jahreszeiten'' (The Seasons).  (The autograph score of the tenth symphony, which bears the complete work, is held by the Staatsbibliothek Berlin.<ref>Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, shelfmark: Mus. ms. autogr. Spohr 11</ref> Furthermore, the same institution holds a complete set of copied parts.<ref>Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv, shelfmark: Mus. ms. 21014</ref> Cf. also <ref>Bert Hagels, "Spohr's Tenth Symphony", in: Spohr Journal 37 (Winter 2010), pp. 2–5.</ref>). Between 1803 and 1844 Spohr wrote more [[violin concerto]]s than any other composer of the time, eighteen in all, including works left unpublished at his death.<ref>Keith Warsop. [http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.223510&catNum=223510&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English# Liner notes to Spohr:Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 9]. Marco Polo 8.223510</ref> Some of them are formally unconventional, such as the one-movement Concerto No. 8, which is in the style of an operatic aria, and which is still periodically revived ([[Jascha Heifetz]] championed it), most recently in a 2006 recording by [[Hilary Hahn]]. There are two double-violin concertos as well. Better known today, however, are the four [[clarinet concerto]]s, all written for the virtuoso [[Johann Simon Hermstedt]], which have established a secure place in clarinettists' repertoire.

Among Spohr's [[chamber music]] is a series of no fewer than 36 [[List of string quartets by Louis Spohr|string quartets]], as well as four double quartets for two string quartets. He also wrote an assortment of other quartets, duos, trios, quintets and sextets, an octet and a nonet, works for solo violin and for solo [[harp]], and works for violin and harp to be played by him and his wife together.

Though obscure today, Spohr's [[opera]]s ''[[Faust (Spohr)|Faust]]'' (1816), ''Zemire und Azor'' (1819) and ''[[Jessonda]]'' (1823) remained in the popular repertoire through the 19th century and well into the 20th, when ''Jessonda'' was banned by the [[Nazis]] because it depicted a European hero in love with an Indian princess. Spohr also wrote 105 songs and duets, many of them collected as ''Deutsche Lieder'' (German Songs), as well as a [[mass (music)|mass]] and other [[choir|choral]] works.  Most of his operas were little known outside of Germany, but his oratorios, particularly ''Die letzten Dinge'' (1825–1826) were greatly admired during the 19th century in England and America.<ref name=nie/> This oratorio was translated by [[Edward Taylor (music writer)|Edward Taylor]] (1784–1863) and performed as ''The Last Judgment'' in 1830 for the first time. During the [[Victorian era]] [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] mentioned him in act 2 of ''[[The Mikado]]'' in a song by the title character.

Spohr, with his eighteen violin concertos, won a conspicuous place in the musical literature of the nineteenth century. He endeavored (without any good result) to make the concerto a substantial and superior composition free from the artificial bravura of the time. He achieved a new [[Romantic music|romantic]] mode of expression. The weaker sides of Spohr's violin compositions are observed in his somewhat monotonous rhythmic structures; in his rejection of certain piquant bowing styles, and [[artificial harmonic]]s; and in the deficiency of [[counterpoint|contrapuntal]] textures.<ref>[[#Reference-idSwalin1937|Swalin 1937]], p. 28.</ref>

Spohr was a noted violinist, and invented the violin [[chinrest]], about 1820. He was also a significant conductor, being one of the first to use a [[Baton (conducting)|baton]] and also inventing [[rehearsal letter]]s, which are placed periodically throughout a piece of [[sheet music]] so that a conductor may save time by asking the orchestra or singers to start playing "from letter C", for example.

In addition to musical works, Spohr is remembered particularly for his ''Violinschule'' (The Violin School), a treatise on violin playing which codified many of the latest advances in violin technique, such as the use of ''[[spiccato]]''.<ref>Spohr, 1832</ref>  It became a standard work of instruction.<ref name=nie>{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Spohr, Louis|year=1905}}</ref> In addition, he wrote an entertaining and informative autobiography, published posthumously in 1860.<ref name = "selbstbiographie"/> A museum is devoted to his memory in Kassel.

According to Rey M. Longyear, Spohr's best works were hailed by many of his contemporaries as quintessentially Romantic and inherited by [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]].<ref>[[#Reference-idLongyear1988|Longyear 1988]], p. 64.</ref>

==Selected recordings==
'''Opera'''
* ''[[Faust (Spohr)|Faust]]'' (WoO 51) Hillevi Martinpelto, Franz Hawlata and Bo Skovhus. Klaus Arp conducting the SWR Radio Orchestra, Kaiserslautern. Label: Capriccio, 1995.
* ''Faust'' (WoO 51a – recitative version of 1852) A live recording of [[Bielefeld Opera]] from June 17/18, 1993. [[Geoffrey Moull]] conducting the Bielefelder Philharmonie, Chorus of the Bielefeld opera house. Label: [[CPO Records]], 1994.
* ''[[Zemire und Azor]]'' (WoO 52) "The Beauty and the Beast" – A production with singers of the [[Manhattan School of Music]], New York, [[Christopher Larkin (conductor)|Christopher Larkin]] conducting. English spoken dialogues. Label: Albany Records, 2005.
* ''Zemire und Azor'' (WoO 52) Anton Kolar conducting the Max Bruch Philharmonie, a production of the Theater Nordhausen. Label: Ds – Pool Music und Media, 2003.
* ''[[Jessonda]]'' (WoO 53) [[Gerd Albrecht]] conducting the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra, with [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]], [[Júlia Várady]], [[Renate Behle]], [[Kurt Moll]] a.o.  The Chorus of the Hamburgische Staatsoper. Label: Orfeo, 1994.
* ''Der Berggeist'' (WoO 54) Wykonawca: Camerata Silesia, Polska Orkiestra Radiowa, Susanne Bernhard, Agnieszka Piass, Dan Karlstrom, Szabolcs Brickner. Conductor:  Łukasz Borowicz. Warsaw, April 8, 2009.
* ''[[Der Alchymist]]'' (WoO 57) [[Bernd Weikl]], Moran Abouloff, Jörg Dürmüller, Jan Zinkler, Susanna Pütters, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, [[Christian Fröhlich (conductor)|Christian Fröhlich]]. Label: Oehms, 2009. The libretto is based on [[Washington Irving]]'s sketch "The Student of Salamanca" from ''[[Bracebridge Hall]]'', 1822.

''Note:'' WoO = work without opus number (see also: Folker Göthel "Thematisch-Bibliographisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Louis Spohr". Tutzing, 1981).

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Brown, Clive. ''Louis Spohr: A Critical Biography.'' Cambridge University Press. 1984. {{ISBN|0-521-23990-7}}.
* {{wikicite|id=idWeyer1980|reference=Weyer, M (1980). "Spohr, Louis", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians'', Macmillan Publishers Limited. 1980.}}
* {{wikicite|id=idLongyear1988|reference=Swalin, B (1937). "The Violin Concertos of Louis Spohr" ''Bulletin of the American Musicological Society, No. 2.'' 1937.}}
* {{wikicite|id=idLongyear1988|reference=Longyear, Rey M. (1973). ''Nineteenth-Century Romanticism in Music'', Prentice Hall, 1973. {{ISBN|0-13-622647-7}}}}
* Spohr, Ludwig, ''Violinschule'', Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1832.
* {{wikicite|id=idAnderson1994|reference=Anderson, Keith. [http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.550688&catNum=550688&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English# "Louis Spohr"] in accompanying booklet "Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 3, Potpourri, Op. 80", performed by Ernst Ottensamer (Clarinet), Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra and Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra directed by Johannes Wildner, Naxos 8.550688.}}

==External links==
{{commons|Louis Spohr|Louis Spohr}}
{{EB1911 poster|Spohr, Ludwig|Louis Spohr}}
* [http://www.spohr-society.org.uk/ The Spohr Society of Great Britain]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120712111004/http://www.owen-leinert.com/Spohr_Society.htm  The Spohr Society of the United States]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121212015630/http://www.dohr.de/autor/spohr.htm  Werke von Louis Spohr im Verlag Dohr Köln]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190721134506/http://www.spohr-museum.de/ The Spohr – Museum in Kassel, Germany]
* [https://www.spohr-briefe.de Letters from and to Louis Spohr online]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190317212632/http://www.louis-spohr.de/ The German Louis Spohr website] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060524065004/http://www.louis-spohr.de/links/links.html links])
* {{Cite EB9 |wstitle=Spohr, Ludwig|volume=22 |last= Rockstro|first= W.S. |author-link= W. S. Rockstro||short=x}}
* [https://archive.org/search.php?query=Spohr%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts "Spohr" titles]; [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A(Spohr)%20AND%20mediatype%3A(Texts) Spohr as author] from archive.org
* [https://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=10&lr=&as_brr=3&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&lr=&as_vt=Spohr+|++Spohrs&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1700&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1940&as_isbn=&as_issn= "Spohr" titles]; [https://books.google.com/books?lr=&as_brr=3&q=inauthor%3ASpohr&btnG=Search+Books&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1700&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1930 Spohr as author] from books.google.com
* [http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?q=Spohr&p=1&lang=en&ArianeWireRechercheHaut=palette "Spohr" titles] from Gallica
* [http://rex.kb.dk/primo_library/libweb/action/preferences.do?fn=change_lang&vid=KGL&prefLang=en_US&prefBackUrl=http:%2F%2Frex.kb.dk%2Fprimo_library%2Flibweb%2Faction%2Fsearch.do?dscnt=0%26fctN=facet_tlevel%26vl(1UI0)=contains%26vl(61142532UI2)=sub%26scp.scps=scope%3A%28KGL%29%26fctV=online_resource%26vl(1UI2)=contains%26tab=default_tab%26dstmp=1291362150176%26srt=rank%26mode=Advanced%26vl(45742256UI3)=all_items%26vl(48924786UI4)=all_items%26tb=t%26indx=1%26backFromPreferences=true%26vl(freeText0)=%26fn=search%26vid=KGL%26vl(freeText2)=%26vl(45742261UI5)=all_items%26title1=1%26vl(1UI1)=contains%26frbg=%26ct=facet%26dum=true%26Submit=Search%26vl(48924784UI1)=creator%26vl(freeText1)=Spohr%26vl(48924785UI0)=title%26vid=KGL "Spohr" titles] [https://rex.kb.dk/F?func=find-c&ccl_term=(WRD=Spohr%20AND%20WWW=http%20NOT%20WWW=sheetmusicnow%20NOT%20WWW=freehandmusic%20NOT%20WWW=hebeonline)&local_base=mus01&con_lng=ENG 1] Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
* [http://www.digital-collections.de/index.html?c=autoren_index&l=en&ab=Spohr%2C+Louis "Spohr" titles] from the Munich Digitisation Centre (MDZ)
* [https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewContributorPage.action?personNameId=1106 "Spohr" titles] from the University of Rochester
* {{IMSLP|id=Spohr%2C_Louis|cname=Louis Spohr}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spohr, Louis}}
[[Category:1784 births]]
[[Category:1859 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century German classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century classical violinists]]
[[Category:19th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:Composers for harp]]
[[Category:Composers for violin]]
[[Category:Concertmasters]]
[[Category:German classical violinists]]
[[Category:German Freemasons]]
[[Category:German opera composers]]
[[Category:German Romantic composers]]
[[Category:German male classical violinists]]
[[Category:German male opera composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Braunschweig]]
[[Category:People from the Duchy of Brunswick]]
[[Category:Oratorio composers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:German string quartet composers]]