Spohr, LUDWIG, composer and violinist, was born at Brunswick on 5th April 1784. His talent for music was shown early, and attracted the notice of the duke, who lent him valuable support in his studies. This patronage he justified by establishing a high reputation as a performer on the violin. In 1805 he was appointed music director at the court of Saxe-Gotha, but gave up that post in 1813 to become music director of the Theater an der Wien at Vienna. There, however, he stayed only two years, and afterwards spent a similar period (1817-19) in a similar position at Frankfort-on-the-Main. In 1820 he appeared in London, where he was received with great applause at the Philharmonic Society's concerts. On the recommendation of Weber, he was in January 1822 appointed Kapellmeister at the court of Hesse-Cassel, which post he continued to hold till 1857. He died on 22d October 1859. The best of his numerous musical compositions are the operas Faust, Jessonda, and Zemira und Azor; the oratorios Die letzten Dinge, Des Heilands letzte Stunden, and Der Fall Babelons; nine grand symphonies, the finest Die Weihe der Töne; fifteen very highly esteemed violin concertos; besides sonatas for violin and harp, fantasias, and rondos. Die letzten Dinge, or Last Judgment, is a very grand and attractive work; so also is Der Fall Babelons, first produced at a Norwich musical festival (1842). As a violinist Spohr deservedly ranks as one of the greatest amongst German masters of the instrument. His Violinschule, a manual for advanced violin-players, is almost indispensable for any student who aspires to mastery of technique as a performer.
See his Autobiography (Eng. trans. 1864), and biographies by Malibran (1860) and Schletterer (1881).