Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

638 SPITZFLOTE SPOHR
was CO -editor with Chrysander and Adler of
the Vierteljahrsschriff, fur MusUcwisaenschaft,
from 1885 to his death. His critical edition of
the organ works of Buxtehude, in two volumes
(B. & H. 187g, 1876), is an admirable specimen
of editing, and, in addition to the music, contains
much valuable information. He also
edited the complete edition of Heinrich Schiitz,
and was a prominent member of the directorate of
the ' Denkmaler deutsoher Tonkunst.' He died
in Berlin, April 13, 1894. A monument by
Hildebrandt, the eminent sculptor, was erected
to his memory in Berlin. G.
SPITZFLOTE, SPITZFLUTE ; i.e. Pointed
flute. An organ stop, so called because its pipes
are slightly conical, that is, taper gradually from
the mouth upwards. The diameter of the top
is generally one-third of that of the pipe at its
mouth. The tone is thin and reedy, but pure
and effective. The Spitzflote may be of 8 ft.,
4 ft. , or 2 ft. pitch ; in this country, stops of this
kind are most commonly of 4 ft. pitch, j. s.
SPOFFORTH,Kbginald, glee composer, bom
in 1770 at Southwell, Nottingham, where his
uncle, Thomas Spotforth, was organist of the
Minster. From him and from Dr. Benjamin
Cooke he probably derived all his instruction in
music. About 1787 or 1788 he wrote a glee—
probablyhis first—for three male voices, 'Lightly
o'er the village green,' and in 1793 obtained
two prizes from the 'Glee Club,' for his glees
' See ! smiling from the rosy East,' and Where
'
are those hours,' which brought him prominently
forward. About 1799 he published a ' Set of Six
Glees,' one of which, 'Hail, smiling mom,' at
once caught the public ear, and has ever since
retained its popularity. Another, ' Fill high
the grape's exulting stream,' gained a prize in
1810. Spoiforth's masterpieces, however, are not
among his prize glees, and Come, bounteous
'
May,' Mark'd you ' her eye,' 'Health to my
dear, ' and How calm ' the evening '—all for
male voices—are among the finest specimens of
his genius. Few English composers, perhaps,
have excelled Spofforth in lively fancy joined
to pure, chaste style. For several years before
his death his health was bad, and he died at
Brompton, Sept. 8, 1827. He was buried at
Kensington, where a monument was erected to
his memory in St. Mary Abbotts Church.
After his death "W. Hawes published a number
of his MS. glees, but some of these pieces are
crude and imperfect, and probably not intended
for publication. Reginald's younger brother,
Samuel, was bom in 1780, appointed organist
of Peterborough Cathedral when only eighteen,
and in 1807 was taade organist of Lichfield
Cathedral. He died in London, June 6, 1864,
and is now best known as the composer of a
once popular chant. D. B.
SPOHR, Louis, ^ great violinist and famous
composer, was born April 5, 1784, at Bruns-
1 So, and not Ludwlg, he calls himself In his Autobiography,
wick, in the house of his grandfather, a clergyman.
Two years after, his father, a young
physician, took up his residence at Seesen, and
it was there that young Spohr spent his early
childhood. Both parents were musical : the
father played the flute ; the mother was pianist
and singer. The boy showed his musical talent
very early, and sang duets with his mother
when only four years of age. At five he began
to play the violin, and when hardly six was
able to take the violin-part in Kalkbrenner's
trios. His first teachers were Riemenschneider
and Dnfour, both amateurs. The latter, a French
emigre, was so much impressed with his pupQ's
exceptional talent, that he persuaded the father
to send him for farther instruction to Brunswick.
Along with his first studies on the violin went
his earliest attempts at composition, which
consisted chiefly of violin duets.
At Brunswick he attended the grammar-school
and continued his musical studies. His teachers
were Kunisch, a member of the Duke's baud,
for the violin, and Hartung, an old organist,
for counterpoint. This was the only instruction
in the theory of music he ever received.
According to his own statement, it was pi'incipally
through an eager study of the scores of the
great masters, especially Mozart, that he acquired
mastery over the technicalities of composition.
His first public appearance was at a schoolconcert,
when he played a concerto of his own
with so much success that he was asked to repeat
it at one of the concerts given by the Duke's
band. Kunisch then insisted on his taking
les.sons from Maucourt, the leader of the band,
and the best violinist at Brunswick. Spohr
was only fourteen when he undertook his first
artistic tour. With a few letters of introduction
in his pocket he set out for Hamburg. But
there he failed even to get a hearing, and after
some weeks had to return to Brunswick on
foot, greatly disappointed, his slender means
thoroughly exhausted. In his despair he conceived
the idea of presenting to the Duke a
petition asking for means to continue his studies.
The Duke was pleased with the lad's open bearing,
heard him, was struck with his talent, at
once gave him an appointment in his band,
and after a short time expressed his willingness
to defray the expenses of his further musical
education under one of the great recognised
masters of the violin. Viotti and Ferdinand
Eck both declined to receive a pupil, but the
latter recommended his brother, Franz Eck,
who was just then travelling in Germany. He
was invited to Brunswick, and as the Duke was
greatly pleased with his performances, an
agreement was made that young Spohr should
accompany him on his journeys and receive his
instruction, the Duke paying one -half of the
travelling expenses and a salary besides. In
the spring of 1802 they started, master and
pupil, for Russia. They made, however, pro-