opera, "Die Pruefung," also appeared about this
time. In 1807 he made a very successful tour through Germany, and another
in 1809, arousing great enthusiasm by his admirable playing. In that year
also occurred the first musical festival in Germany, which was conducted
by Spohr at Frankenhausen, in Thuringia. In 1811 another was held, for
which he wrote his first symphony. In 1812 his first oratorio, "Das
juengste Gericht," appeared; but after two performances of it he was
greatly dissatisfied, and laid it aside. In the fall of that year he made
his first public appearance in Vienna, and achieved such success that he
was offered and accepted the leadership of the band at the
Theater-an-der-Wien. He remained there only three years, however, and
then resumed his professional tours in Switzerland and Italy. In 1818 he
was appointed conductor of the opera at Frankfort, where he remained for
two years, during which time he brought out his operas "Faust" and
"Zemire and Azor." In 1820 he went to England for the first time, and
played many of his compositions in the Philharmonic concerts. His English
visit was a very successful one, and on his journey back to Germany he
stopped in Paris, where also he met with an enthusiastic welcome. He
finally settled down at Dresden, where Weber was then busy with the
preparations for the performance of his "Freischuetz." During his stay
there, Weber had been offered the post of Hofkapellmeister to the Elector
of Cassel; but not being in a position to accept it, he recommended
Spohr, and the latter obtained the appointment Jan. 1, 1822, where he
remained the rest of his days, as it was a life-office. During this year
he finished his opera "Jessonda," one of the most successful of all his
vocal works. Four years later he conducted the Rhenish Festival at
Duesseldorf and brought out his second oratorio, "Die letzten Dinge" ("The
Last Things"). In 1831 he completed his "Violin School," which has ever
since been a standard work. His most important symphony, "Die Weihe der
Toene" ("The Consecration of Sound"), was produced at Cassel in 1832, and
his third oratorio, "Des Heiland's letzte Stunden" ("Calvary"), at the
same place in 1835. Four years later he went to England again, and
produced his "Calvary" at the Norwich Festival with immense success,
which led to his reception of a commission to produce "The Fall of
Babylon" for the Festival of 1842. His last opera, "The Crusaders," was
written in 18