of musical attractions of every description.
Certainly he did not like the French, though his reception from the
artists and literati was of the most friendly sort. He was disgusted
"with the ridiculous vanity of the Parisians." He writes: "When one or
other of their musicians plays anything, they say, 'Well! can you
boast of that in Germany?' Or when they introduce to you one of their
distinguished artists, they do not call him the first in Paris, but at
once the first in the world, although no nation knows less what other
countries possess than they do, in their--for their vanity's sake most
fortunate--ignorance."

Spohr's appointment to the directorship of the court theatre at Cassel
occurred in the winter of 1822, and he confesses his pleasure in the
post, as he believed he could make its fine orchestra one of the most
celebrated in Germany. He remained in this position for about thirty
years, and during that time Cassel became one of the greatest musical
centers of the country. His labors were assiduous, for he had the
true tireless German industry, and he soon gave the world his opera
of "Jessonda," which was first produced on July 28, 1823, with marked
success. "Jessonda" has always kept its hold on the German stage, though
it was not received with much favor elsewhere. Another opera, "Der Berg
Geist" ("The Mountain Spirit"), quickly followed, the work having been
written to celebrate the marriage of the Princess of Hesse with the Duke
of Saxe-Meiningen. One of his most celebrated compositions, the oratorio
"Die Letzten Dinge" ("The Last Judgment"), which is more familiar
to English-speaking peoples than any other work of Spohr, was first
performed on Good Friday, 1826, and was recognized from the first as
a production of masterly excellence. Spohr's ability as a composer of
sacred music would have been more distinctly accepted, had it not been
that Handel, Haydn, and, in more recent years, Mendelssohn, raised the
ideal of the oratorio so high that only the very loftiest musical genius
is considered fit to reign in this sphere. The director of the Cassel
theatre continued indefatigable in producing works of greater or less
excellence, chamber-music, symphonies, and operas. Among the latter,
attention may be called to "Pietro Albano" and the "Alchemist," clever
but in no sense brilliant works, though, as it became the fashion in
Germany to indulge in enthusiasm over Spohr, they were warmly praised
at home. The be