Spohr, Louis |
| COMPOSER, VIOLINIST (GERMANY) |
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BORN 25 Apr 1784, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen - DIED 16 Oct 1859, Kassel, Hessen BIRTH NAME Spohr, Ludewig CAUSE OF DEATH arterio sclerosis GRAVE LOCATION Kassel, Hessen: Hauptfriedhof, Tannenheckerweg 6 (Abt. 13, Mausoleum) |
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Louis Spohr received early musical encouragement from his parents. His father Karl Heinrich Spohr played the flute and his mother Juliane Henke was a talented singer and pianist. His first violin teacher was named Dufour and a concert at the court in Braunschweig impressed Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick enough to engage him as a chamber musician. He was fifteen years old at the time. He became a pupil to Franz Eck and accompanied him to Saint Petersburg. After his return he toured Northern Germany. In 1805 he became concert master at the court of Gotha. He met the harpist and pianist Dorette Scheidler and they married on 2 Feb 1806. He held his position in Gotha until 1812. In 1812 he conducted a concert at the Predigerkirche in Erfurt in honour of Napoleon's 43th birthday. From 1813 to 1815 he worked at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna and there he was friendly with Beethoven. From 1817 to 1819 he was director of the opera in Frankfurt am Main, where he was able to stage his own operas. In 1822 he became Musical Director in Kassel on the suggestion of Carl Maria von Weber. He stayed in Kassel for the rest of his life. Dorette died in 1834 and in on 3 Jan 1836 he married Marianne Pfeiffer. In 1851 the elector William II of Hesse refused to sign a two months leave that he was contractually entitled to and in 1857 he was pensioned of against his will. He broke his arm in the same year and this put an end to his career as a violinist. In 1858 he conducted his opera Jessonda, written in 1822, in Prague. He died in 1859 in Kassel. His wife Marianne survived him until 1892. Related persons • visited Beer, Amalie • was a friend of Beethoven, Ludwig van • met Boucher, Alexandre • was teacher of Burgmüller, Norbert • was a friend of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix • was teacher of Wichmann, Herman |
| Images | |
 The grave of Ludwig Spohr at the Hauptfriedhof, Kassel. Picture by Androom (26 Aug 2017) |
 The grave of Ludwig Spohr at the Hauptfriedhof, Kassel. Picture by Androom (26 Aug 2017) |
Sources • Aubert, Joachim, Handbuch der Grabstätten berühmter Deutscher, Österreicher und Schweizer, Deutscher Kunstverlag, München, 1975 • Free Site Search Engine - put a search engine on your web site or add search to your blog • Der Musiker Gräber - ALLGEMEINE KLASSIKTHEMEN - TAMINO-KLASSIKFORUM |
