Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

Aug. 25, on terms of royal generosity. He was In Spontini's character great and mean qualities
to retain his title and full salary, and live where
were almost equally mixed, so that both
he pleased, in the hope that in repose he might
'
friends and foes could support their statements
produce new works, which the King would hail by facts, while each shut their eyes to the.
with pleasure if he chose to conduct them in qualities which they did not wish to see. After
person at Berlin. ' To these munificent arrangements
his friends had been silenced by the catastrophe
no conditions whatever were attached. of 1841 the verdict of his opponents prevailed, at
Spontini was convicted of Use-majestS, and any rate throughout Germany ; but this verdict,
condemned to nine months' imprisonment, a we say emphatically, was unjust. The charge
sentence confirmed by the higher court to which that he despised and neglected German music is
he appealed, but remitted by the King. In simply untrue. That he admired and loved the
the face of all this he had the effrontery to great German masters from Handel to Beethoven
demand a further sum of 46,850 thalers, on the he proved through life in many ways. Robert
ground that the Management had not supplied relates on unquestionable authority that he made
him with a sufficient number of librettos, great sacrifices for the family of Mozart. When
whereby he had lost the sum guaranteed him Nissen published his biography Spontini exerted
for first nights, besides profits from other performances
and from publishers—reckoned at transmitted the money to the widow, superin-
himself immensely to get subscribers, personally
3000 thalers for each opera ! The King referred tended the translation of the book into French,,
him to the Law Courts, but Spontini's better and rendered all the help in his power.^ A preference
nature seems at length to have prevailed, and
for his own works must be conceded to
he withdrew his application Deo. 23, 1841. any artist actively engaged in production, nor is
When he finally left Berlin in the summer of it reasonable to expect from him an absolutely
1842, the King granted him a further sum of impartial judgment of the works of others.
6000 thalers. His friends gave him a farewell Weber's music was incomprehensible and antipathetic
concert on July 13, 1842, for which he wrote
to Spontini, and this did him as much
both words and music of an Adieu ' h mes amis
de Berlin. '1
injury in Berlin as anything else.
in performing Euryanthe and ' ' But his delay
Oberon was
' '
He left few friends behind him. His successor
caused more by inaction than opposition. For
at the opera was Meyerbeer, who, with Spohr he had a great respect, as he often
Mendelssohn, received the title of ' Generalmusik-
proved.' In Meyerbeer he took a great interest,
until the appearance of ' Robert le Diable, ' which
he could not bear, calling it ' im cadavre ' ; but
direotor.' Neither had very friendly feelings
towards him, and their paths as artists widely
diverged from his. He was, however, long and
gratefully remembered by the members of the
King's band. The orchestra were proud of their
majestic conductor, who so often led them to
triumph, and who, moreover, had a tender care
for their personal interests. The poorer members
found his purse ready of access, and in 1826 he
established a fund for them, called by special
permission the ' Spontini-Fonds, ' to which he
devoted the whole proceeds of his annual benefit
concerts. The fund speedily attained to considerable
proportions, and still exists, though
the name has been changed.
That he was badly treated by the Berlin public
is indisputable. His ill-natured, unjust, spiteful
attacks must have been very irritating, as even
those who do not belong to the super-sensitive
race of artists can understand, but the last scene
at the opera looks like a piece of simple brutality,
unless we remember that the real ground of
ofience was his being a foreigner. The political
events of the period beginning with the War of
Liberation had roused a strong national feeling
in Prasaia. The denial of a Constitution had
concentrated attention on the stage, which thus
became a sort of political arena ; and that a
foreigner, and moreover a naturalised Frenchman,
should be laying down the law in this
stronghold was intolerable.
1 Bobert, p. 52. etc.
SPONTINI 661
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this is no reflection on his taste. For the nonperformance
of the Huguenots he was not ' ' responsible,
as the prohibition was the King's. He
was certainly not justified in calling Marschner's
thoroughly disliked, took no trouble about their
production, and was much annoyed at their
pleasing the public. Nor did he like Rossini,
his own countryman. His horizon was limited,
but if it is possible to reconcile genius with
narrow-mindedness, if Spohr may be forgiven
for appreciating Beethoven only partially, and
"Weber not at all, we must not be too hard on
Spontini. It is sad to see the incapacity of e%'en
cultivated people in Berlin to be just towards
2 Robert, p. 56, etc.
3 The statement in the Mendel^aohn Family, vol. i. p. 124, that
he threw obstacles in the way of the performance of Jessonda '
is quite imfounded. The minutes of the King's Theatre prove the
contrary.
'
Templer und Jiidin an arrangement ' ' after
Spontini '—always supposingthat theexpression
was his—but everybody knows that Marschner
was deeply influenced by him. He was by no
means free from envy and jealousy, but, taking
for granted that he allowed himself to be swayed
by his passions, foreign composers suffered just
as much at his hands as Gennan ones. Of
Cherubini he thought very highly (he mounted
'
Les Abenc^rages ' and sent the composer a
considerable sum from the proceeds), hut Auber's
'
Muette de Portici, ' and Halevy's ' Juive he
'