Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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640 SPOHR SPOHR
soon afterwards, in celebration of the battle of
Leipzig, a great patriotic cantata. But neither
of these works was performed until after he had
left Vienna. During his stay there Spohr
naturally came into contact with Beethoven
but in spite of his admiration for the master's
earlier compositions, especially for the quartets,
op. 18, which he was one of the first to perform
at a time when they were hardly known outside
Vienna (indeed, he was the very first to play
them at Leipzig and Berlin)— yet he was quite
unable to understand and appreciate the great
composer's character and works, as they appeared
even in his second period. His criticism of the
C minor and Choral Symphonies has gained for
Spohr, as a critic, an unenviable reputation.
He disapproves of the first subject of the C minor
as unsuited for the opening movement of a
symphony ; considers the slow movement,
granting the beauty of the melody, too much
spun out and tedious ; and though praising the
Scherzo, actually speaks of 'the unmeaning noise
of the Finale.' 'The Choral Symphony fares
still worse ; he holds the first three movements,
though not without flashes of genius, to be
inferior to all the movements of the previous
eight symphonies, and the Finale he calls so
'
monstrous and tasteless, and in its conception
of Schiller's Ode so trivial, ' that he cannot
understand how a genius like Beethoven could
ever write it down.' After this we cannot
wonder that he finishes up by saying ;
'
Beethoven
was wanting in sesthetio culture and sense of
beauty.' ' But perhaps no great artist was ever
so utterly wrapped up in himself as Spohr.
What he could not measure by the standard of
his own peculiar talent, to him was not measurable.
Hence his complete absence of critical
power, a quality which in many other cases has
proved to be by no means inseparable from
creative talent.
Although his stay at Vienna was on the whole
very successful, and did much to raise his
reputation, he left it in 1815, after having
quitted his appointment on account of disagreements
with the manager of the theatre.
He passed the summer at the country-seat of
Prince Carolath in Bohemia, and then went, to
conduct another festival at Frankenhausen,
where he brought out his Cantata Das ' befreite
Deutschland, ' after which he set out on a tour
through the west and south of Germany, Alsace,
Switzerland, and Italy. On his road, with the
special view of pleasing the Italian public, he
wrote the eighth Concerto-— the well-known
'
Soena Cantante. ' He visited all the principal
towns of the Peninsula, played the concerto in
Eome and Milan, and made acquaintance with
Kossini and his music—without approving much
of the latter, as will be readily believed.
Returned to Germany, in 1817 he visited
Holland, and then accepted the post of conductor
1 SelbBtbiogr. i. 202, etc.
of the opera at Frankfort-on-tlie-Main. Here,
in 1818, his opera 'Faust' was first produced.
'
It was quickly succeeded by Zemire and
Azor,' which, though hardly equal to 'Faust,'
gained at the time even greater popularity.
Owing again to diflTerences with the manager
he left Frankfort, after a stay of scarcely two
years. In 1820 he accepted an invitation from
the Philharmonic Society in London, and paid
his first visit to England. He appeared at the
opening concert of the season (March 6), and
played with great success his Concerto No. 8,
'Nello stilo drammatico.' [At a miscellaneous
concert on March 22, Spohr was described on
the programme as making his first appearance
in England.] At the second Philharmonic
concert he led his Solo Quartet in E. At the
next he would naturally have been at the head
of the violins to lead the band, while Eies,
according to the then prevailing fashion, presided
at the piano. But, after having overcome the
opposition of some of the directors, Spohr succeeded
in introducing the conductor's stick for
the first time into a Philharmonic concert. It
was on this occasion (April 10) that he conducted
his MS. Symphony in D minor, d. fine
work, composed during his stay in London. At
the last concert of the season another Symphony
of his was played for the fu-st time in England,
as well as his Nonetto for strings and wind
(op. 31). Spohr was delighted with the
excellent performance of the Philharmonic
Orchestra, especially the stringed instruments.
Altogether his sojourn in London was both
artistically and financially a great success. At
his farewell concert, his wife made her last
appearance as a harp-player, and was warmly
applauded. Soon after she was obliged, on
account of ill-health, to give up the harp for
the piano, on which she would occasionally play
in concerts with her husband, who wrote a
number of pianoforte and violin duets especially
for her.
On his journey home, Spohr visited Paris for
the first time. Here he made the personal
acquaintance of Kreutzer, Viotti, Habeneok,
Cherubini, and other eminent musicians, and
wa3..received by them with great cordiality and
esteem. His success at a concert which he gave
at the Opera was complete, although his quiet
unpretentious style was not, and could not be, as
much to the taste of the French as it was to that
of the German and English public. Cherubini
appears to have felt a special interest in Spohr's
compositions, and the latter takes special pride
in relating how the great Italian made him play
a quartet of his three times over. Returned
to Germany, Spohr settled at Dresden, where
Weber was just then engaged in bringing out
his 'Freischiitz.' Spohr was no more able to
appreciate the genius of Weber than that of
Beethoven. It is curious that, without knowing
of Weber's opera, he had had the intention of