June 2008
LOUIS SPOHR 1784 - 1859
Described in Mayer’s book below as The Forgotten Master, Louis Spohr was once as famous as his good friend Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria. As a composer he ranks as an historic figure in the development of German music drama and whose greatest triumph was in the oratorio. Spohr was so popular in the Victorian era that Gilbert and Sullivan mention him in the same breath as Bach and Beethoven in Act 2 of The Mikadoin a song by the title character. His orchestral writings and chamber works were once considered on a par with Mozart’s and although unashamedly romantic, they deserve re-evaluation and reassessment.
Spohr's best works are his wistful, elegiac minor-mode first movements, hailed by many of his contemporaries as quintessentially Romantic and inherited by Mendelssohn; his deft scherzos whose influence was felt as late as Brahms; his expressive slow movements with their chromatic alterations which, on occasion, become cloyingly sentimental; and his light-hearted finales which are often able to avoid the trap of trivial thematic material.
Items from display:
Local Control #: 16715701 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : Double quartet [sound recording] : no. 3 in E minor, op. 87 ;
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Doppelquartett, no. 3
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Local Control #: 16715709 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : Symphonies nos. 1 and 5 [sound recording]
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Symphonies, no. 1, op. 20, E major
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Local Control #: 16715724 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : String quintet [sound recording] ; Potpourri on themes of Moz
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Chamber music. Selections
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Local Control #: 16715726 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : Piano trio no. 3 in A minor op. 124 [sound recording] ; Piano
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Trios, piano, strings, no. 3, op. 12
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Local Control #: 16155011 Format : BK
Status : Available
Title : Louis Spohr
Author : Cao, Hélène
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Local Control #: 10912930 Format : BK
Status : Available
Title : The musical journeys of Louis Spohr
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Selbstbiographie. English
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Local Control #: 10997392 Format : BK
Status : Available
Title : Louis Spohr's autobiography : translated from the German
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Local Control #: 11101031 Format : BK
Status : Available
Title : The forgotten master : the life & times of Louis Spohr
Author : Mayer, Dorothy Moulton Piper, Lady
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Local Control #: 10997073 Format : BK
Status : Available
Title : Louis Spohr : a critical biography
Author : Brown, Clive, 1947-
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Local Control #: 12267263 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : String quartet in E minor, op. 45 no. 2
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Quartets, strings, no. 13, op. 45, n
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Local Control #: 13602383 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : Double string quartet no. 3, in E minor, op. 87
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Doppelquartett, no. 3
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Local Control #: 11797323 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : Quartett fÜr 2 Violinen, Viola, Violoncell, Opus 4 No. 1
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Quartets, strings, no. 1, op. 4, no.
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Local Control #: 11797320 Format : MU
Status : Available
Title : Quartett fÜr 2 Violinen, Viola, Violoncell, Opus 4 No. 2
Author : Spohr, Louis, 1784-1859. Quartets, strings, no. 2, op. 4, no.