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SPO in July, 1803, when he presented the duke with his first violin concerto (op. 1), which he had written and published during his absence, and which he dedicated to this kind patron. He gave a concert at which his success astonished even himself, and the duke was so delighted with the progress he had made, that he appointed him first violinist in his chapel; which enabled him to take his brother Ferdinand to live with him as his pupil. About this time Spohr heard Rode, with whose mechanism and style he was so greatly charmed, that he took the playing of this violinist as a model for his own, and for some years studied to reproduce its peculiarities. In composition he even more closely formed his system upon the example of Mozart, whom, throughout his career, he regarded as the greatest of all musicians.

In the winter of 1804-5 Spohr made an artistic tour, and played with great applause at Leipsic, Dresden, and Berlin, in the last of which—to gain the interest of the rich family Beer—he brought out the son (now called Meyerbeer) at one of his concerts. He was invited to offer himself for the post of kapellmeister at Gotha, a superior appointment to that he held under the duke of Brunswick, with whose concurrence he made the application, and he was appointed in August, 1805. Before entering upon this he spent some time at Magdeburg with Prince Louis Ferdinand, with whose constant companion, Dussek, he there became acquainted. In February, 1806, he married Dorothea Scheidler, a harpist and pianist, whose mother was one of the court singers at Gotha; and after this he wrote many concertante pieces for violin and harp, to play with his wife. Being thus led to examine closely the effect of the harp, he observed that this was much better when the instrument was tuned a semitone below the violin; and the custom which he therefore introduced of making C flat its original key, has become universal. His first dramatic attempt, "Die Prüfung," a one-act opera, was composed at this time, but never produced. In a tour to several of the chief German towns, Spohr and his wife were highly successful; and it was for this journey that he wrote his first concertante for two violins (op. 48), to play with his pupil Hildibrandt. The composition of the opera of "Alruna" engaged him on his return, and he made arrangements for its production at Weimar. Some months elapsed, however, before it was put in rehearsal, and Spohr was then so dissatisfied with its effect, that he withdrew it, and no portion of it except the overture ever came before the world. In October, 1809, he started on another tour with his wife, which lasted for several months. In the winter of the following year, he wrote the opera of "Die Zweikampf," for which he had been commissioned by the famous Schroder, who then directed the Hamburg theatre, where it was produced in the spring of 1811. It was at this time that Spohr composed his symphony in E flat, which was first performed in the following July. In 1812 he wrote an oratorio called "Die jungste Gericht," (an entirely different work from that known here as the Last Judgment), which was produced at a fête in honour of Napoleon's birthday at Erfurt, but was never printed. Feeling the deficiency of his contrapuntal studies, Spohr prepared himself for this work by a course of theoretical reading, but he never wrote anything which proved that he had mastered the art of fugue.

Spohr gave up his post at Gotha in the autumn of 1812, being engaged for three years to share with Seyfried the office of kapellmeister at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. His reception in this city was most cordial; a rich manufacturer, Herr von Tost, made an arrangement with him that, for a liberal rate of payment, he should, during three years, have exclusive possession of everything Spohr composed, with the sole right of performance, and that, after this period, the author might publish the works and derive any emolument from their sale. The nonet (op. 31), and several quartets were written in pursuance of this lucrative agreement; but the bankruptcy of Tost anticipated the termination of its period. The opera of "Faust" was undertaken in May, 1813, for the theatre where Spohr was engaged; but though it was greatly admired, circumstances prevented its performance, and it was not produced until 1816, when it was given at Prague under Weber's direction. In January, 1814, Spohr began, at the suggestion of Tost, "Das befreite Deutschland," a cantata to celebrate the battle of Leipsic; but it was not performed until some years later. The intendant of the Theater an der Wien having obtained also the management of the court theatre, the works performed at the former were reduced to ballets and vaudevilles, which so disgusted Spohr that he tendered his resignation at the end of the second year of his engagement, on condition that he should be paid half the salary of the third year, and this was accepted. He accordingly took leave of Vienna at a farewell concert in February, 1815. While in Vienna he made the acquaintance of Beethoven; but his estimation of this master was very different from that entertained by the rest of the world. He now visited most of the northern capitals; and in the summer of 1816, gratified a long-cherished desire of passing some months of retirement in Switzerland. There he wrote his dramatic concerto and some other pieces for his own playing, with which, in September, he went to Italy. He appeared at Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Bologna, and was everywhere successful. He returned to Switzerland in the following April, and then made a tour in Holland. At the end of 1817, Spohr undertook the musical directorship of the Frankfort theatre, where, in the ensuing spring, he reproduced "Faust," altering the music of the hero to suit a tenor singer, for whom he inserted the air "Liebe ist die zarte Blüthe." He now commenced the composition of an opera founded on the legend of the Black Huntsman, but abandoned it on hearing that Weber had made some progress with his Freischütz, embodying the same subject. In September he commenced "Zemire und Azor," which was brought out in April, 1819, with great success. This opera was adapted to the English stage, with interpolations from other works of the composer, and performed at Covent Garden theatre in 1831. Spohr's high artistic views differed from the commercial principles of the proprietors of the Frankfort theatre, and disputes consequently arose between them, which induced him to throw up his engagement in September, 1819.

The Philharmonic Society engaged Spohr to come to London for the season of 1820, when he conducted some of the concerts—being the first person that directed an orchestra in England with the baton—played at others, and produced a concert overture which he had written at Frankfort for the occasion, and the symphony in D minor which he composed here. His reception was most brilliant, both as an executant and as a composer, and his profits were great accordingly. He gave a benefit concert on the night of Queen Caroline's entry into London, when, notwithstanding the immense popular commotion, his room was crowded. This was the only occasion of his wife's performing in England, and it was her last public appearance. Ill health had much interfered with her harp-playing, and Spohr composed the quintet in C minor (op. 52), to tempt her to relinquish that instrument in favour of the pianoforte, which would be less injurious to her. He spent the following winter in Paris, and the latter part of 1821 in Dresden, whither he went in order to procure instruction in singing for his daughter.

There Weber proposed to him the office of kapellmeister to the duke of Cassel, which had been offered to himself, and he opened negotiations that led to Spohr's appointment, who entered upon this in January, 1822. The migrations of the master were now at an end; all Europe had acknowledged his eminence, and his new office insured him a competent income, and afforded him scope for the practice of his art. Nearly all his subsequent compositions were first performed in Cassel, and this city became a resort of art pilgrims, who visited it to pay their respect to him as the genius of the place. One of his early acts when settled there was to re-establish a fund for the widows of the members of the duke's orchestra, and he gave up an annual concert to which he was entitled by his engagement that he might secure the better success for one in aid of this institution. He also founded the Cecilia Society for the cultivation of vocal music, of which he directed the practice with admirable results. In July, 1823, he brought out "Jessonda," which he had finished in the previous December, having commenced it while in Dresden, and planned the entire arrangement of the situations before he left Paris, where he accidentally read the French tragedy upon which it is founded. This opera was eminently successful at the time, and has been more popular than any other of Spohr's works. He now wrote the first of his double quartets, and always prided himself upon having invented this form of composition. His next opera "Der Berggeist," founded upon one of the legends of Rübezahl, was produced in 1825. On Good Friday, 1826, the oratorio "Die letzen Dinge," of which Rochlitz wrote the poem, was first performed. The English version of this work, under the title of "The Last Judgment," was brought out at the Norwich festival of 1830. It was the first extensive vocal composition of Spohr that was