the Cassel Court
Oratorios.--He is retired with a Pension.--Closing Years of his
Life.--His Place as Composer and Executant.

I.

"The first singer on the violin that ever appeared!" Such was the
verdict of the enthusiastic Italians when they heard one of the greatest
of the world's violinists, who was also a great composer. The modern
world thinks of Spohr rather as the composer of symphony, opera, and
oratorio than as a wonderful executant on the violin; but it was in
the latter capacity that he enjoyed the greatest reputation during the
earlier part of his lifetime, which was a long one, extending from the
year 1784 to 1859. The latter half of Spohr's life was mostly devoted
to the higher musical ambition of creating, but not until he had
established himself as one of the greatest of virtuosos, and founded
a school of violin-playing which is, beyond all others, the most
scientific, exhaustive, and satisfactory. All of the great contemporary
violinists are disciples of the Spohr school of execution. Great as a
composer, still greater as a player, and widely beloved as a man--there
are only a few names in musical art held in greater esteem than his,
though many have evoked a deeper enthusiasm.

Ludwig Spohr was born at Brunswick, April 5, 1784, of parents both of
whom possessed no little musical talent. His father, a physician
of considerable eminence, was an excellent flutist, and his mother
possessed remarkable talent both as a pianist and singer. To the family
concerts which he heard at home was the rapid development of the boy's
talents largely due. Nature had given him a very sensitive ear and a
fine clear voice, and at the age of four or five he joined his mother
in duets at the evening gatherings. From the very first he manifested
a taste for the instrument for which he was destined to become
distinguished. He so teased his father that, at the age of six, he was
presented with his first violin, and his joy on receiving his treasure
was overpowering. The violin was never out of his hand, and he
continually wandered about the house trying to play his favorite
melodies. Spohr tells us in his "Autobiography": "I still recollect
that, after my first lesson, in which I had learned to play the G-sharp
chord upon all four strings, in my rapture at the harmony, I hurried to
my mother, who was in the kitchen, and played the chord so incessantly
that she was obliged to order me out."

Young Spohr was placed under th