# Spohr? Who??!



## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

I love my Johann, Benjamin, Ralph, Dmitri, Jean and Henry. Wolfgang drifts at No. 10; Ludwig is somewhere down at number 20. I kinda-sorta like some Mendelssohn, but he's not on my radar much. I really don't like much Schubert at all, apart from the Octet (I know he's someone you _can_ love, I just don't). Much of the 19th century tends to pass me by...

Yet, somehow, thanks to a couple of Violin Concertanti, an Octet and a symphony or two, I have just fallen head over heels for Louis Spohr, who I confess to never really having heard much of before.

Anyone care to make a diagnosis, please?
Should I be embarrassed to like Spohr?! :lol:


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

It's probably just a Spohr of the moment type of formality.


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

Ethereality said:


> It's probably just a Spohr of the moment type of formality.


Where's the groan icon?

Oh, this will do:


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Spohr is a disease you get when you are not taking enough Schubert, especially if your consumption of Beethoven and Mozart is not sufficient to sustain good health. If it's not to late you may be able to reverse the condition.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Enthusiast said:


> Spohr is a disease


You'll get relief if you apply the lotion NEO*SPOHR*IN


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Don't know a lot, but he has an absolutely gorgeous piano/wind quintet in E-flat that is somewhat light-weight but guarantees a good time.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^ True enough but it is insufficiently nutritious to sustain disease free life.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

dizwell said:


> my Johann


Bach? Who??!

Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749)
Johann Bernhard Bach (the younger) (1700-1743)
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795)
Johann Ernst Bach (1722-1777)
Johann Lorenz Bach (1695-1773)
Johann Ludwig Bach (1677-1731)
Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694)
Johann Nicolaus Bach (1669-1753)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

^
^

Should have formed their own football club.


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## Caryatid (Mar 28, 2020)

There's no shame in liking Spohr. He was a pretty decent composer.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


> Bach? Who??!
> 
> Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749)
> Johann Bernhard Bach (the younger) (1700-1743)
> ...


So Bach was really just a bluffing imitator.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

I've only heard his symphonies and double quartets (these latter being rather good), but to tell you the truth I haven't felt the need to explore more. His music doesn't move me or excite in any way.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Spohr's not a special composer, but his music is good for spin now and then. Actually, I'm attracted to the music of composers who were a bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras. Spohr is one of them; others include Reicha and Hummel.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I love Spohr. I think he and Hummel are both underrated. (For some reason, I think of Spohr, Hummel, and Weber as an underrated triad, with Weber being more famous than the other two). 

In particular, I love his clarinet concertos, his Symphony No. 7, and his Concertante for Two Violins in A major. I know the violin chinrest and the rehearsal mark are greater legacies of his than his music, but I enjoy it.


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

Nothing to be ashamed about. This guy is pure class in my book. Definitely unsung and right up my street. Some really good recordings out there of his works. I urge anyone who has not ventured, to try them out.

Recommended Listening:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

dizwell said:


> I love my Johann, Benjamin, Ralph, Dmitri, Jean and Henry. Wolfgang drifts at No. 10; Ludwig is somewhere down at number 20. I kinda-sorta like some Mendelssohn, but he's not on my radar much. I really don't like much Schubert at all, apart from the Octet (I know he's someone you _can_ love, I just don't). Much of the 19th century tends to pass me by...
> 
> Yet, somehow, thanks to a couple of Violin Concertanti, an Octet and a symphony or two, I have just fallen head over heels for Louis Spohr, who I confess to never really having heard much of before.
> 
> ...


There's certainly nothing to be embarrassed about in liking the music of Louis Spohr.

However, putting Beethoven at number 20! And shunning Schubert? Hide your head in shame!

One of the box sets in my collection:


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

hammeredklavier said:


> Bach? Who??!
> 
> Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749)
> Johann Bernhard Bach (the younger) (1700-1743)
> ...


Actually, I may have been referring to Albrechtsberger, Schmidt or Fux.



But thanks for confirming something I mentioned a while ago now: without using first names when cataloguing your music, you aren't able to tell all those Bachs apart (though I only have six in my collection).


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

Joachim Raff said:


> Nothing to be ashamed about. This guy is pure class in my book. Definitely unsung and right up my street. Some really good recordings out there of his works. I urge anyone who has not ventured, to try them out.
> 
> Recommended Listening:
> View attachment 134326


I've just got that one, so thanks for confirming I made a good choice!


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

SONNET CLV said:


> There's certainly nothing to be embarrassed about in liking the music of Louis Spohr.
> 
> However, putting Beethoven at number 20! And shunning Schubert? Hide your head in shame!
> 
> ...


I just got that one, too. So many thanks also for confirming I'm making wise decisions.

As for the Beethoven and Schubert... what can I say? Schubert especially just doesn't do something for me. I don't know why, he just doesn't.

I only have 10 cycles of Beethoven symphonies, but I can hum bits of the 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th (admittedly, everyone can hum the last movement of the 9th, but I can hum some of the _second_ movement). Will that do?!


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

I listened to his 3rd and 6th symphonies.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I consider myself a fan of Spohr but y'all are showing me I have some work to do....


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## Rosalind Ellicott (May 21, 2020)

Liking Spohr is nothing to be ashamed of; he was a very fine composer whose symphonies can be mentioned in the same breath as more famous contemporaries. I read somewhere that Charles Villiers-Stanford maintained that many musicians in the late 19th century revered him above Beethoven.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Nowt wrong with Spohry-boy. I too like his symphonies but especially his Octet. Some of his 70 billion string quartets are pretty nice too.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

this is good


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Rosalind Ellicott said:


> I read somewhere that Charles Villiers-Stanford maintained that many musicians in the late 19th century revered him above Beethoven.


I remember Spohr being mentioned in one of Chopin's letters:

Warsaw, 3 October 1829.

Dear Tytus!
I am sure you will
see that I must go back to Vienna ; but it is not for Panna Bla-
hetka, of whom I think I wrote to you. She is young, pretty and
a pianist; but I, perhaps unfortunately, already have my own
ideal, which I have served faithfully, though silently, for half
a year; of which I dream, to thoughts of which the adagio of
my concerto belongs, and which this morning inspired the lit-
tle waltz I am sending you. Attention to one point here: No one
knows about this but you. flow I should like to play the waltz to
you, dearest Tytus. In thé Trio the bass melody should dominate
till the high E flat of the violin in the 5th measure ; but I need
not write you that, because you will feel it. No musical news
except that there is music at Kessler's every Friday. Yesterday,
among other things, *they played Spohr's Octet ; lovely, exquisite.*


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Merl said:


> Nowt wrong with Spohry-boy. I too like his symphonies but especially his Octet. Some of his 70 billion string quartets are pretty nice too.


70 billion! Yikes. My CD/record shelves are rather scanty on those quartets. Time to make a visit to ArkivMusic with my Coronavirus Stimulus check.

Yikes! I wonder if that's enough to buy the entire 70 billion CDs box set!


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Merl said:


> Nowt wrong with Spohry-boy. I too like his symphonies but especially his Octet. Some of his 70 billion string quartets are pretty nice too.


When Marco Polo kept releasing Spohr string quartet recordings, it did seem like billions. Then came the string quintets, clarinet concertos, violin concertos, and symphonies. Spohr's recording legacy is impressive. I almost forgot his operas.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

SONNET CLV said:


> 70 billion! Yikes. My CD/record shelves are rather scanty on those quartets. Time to make a visit to ArkivMusic with my Coronavirus Stimulus check.
> 
> Yikes! I wonder if that's enough to buy the entire 70 billion CDs box set!


Okay, I exaggerated a bit.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Rosalind Ellicott said:


> Liking Spohr is nothing to be ashamed of; he was a very fine composer whose symphonies can be mentioned in the same breath as more famous contemporaries. I read somewhere that Charles Villiers-Stanford maintained that many musicians in the late 19th century revered him above Beethoven.


Between say 1820 and 1835, Spohr's works were viewed by many as perfect representations of
modern art. Spohr's works were ranked among the masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, Weber, Haydn, and Beethoven. Schumann referred to Spohr as "the great German master I know and love". When Spohr died in 1859 at the age of 75, Brahms reportedly lamented that the last of the great masters had died. Spohr was always regarded as a musician's musician, but he never really won the wholehearted allegiance of the general public, supposedly because his harmonies were "too subtle and refined". He was routinely included in lists of the ten greatest composers in history and few connoisseurs would have raised an eyebrow when music critic T. D. Eaton called him the finest and most original composer since Beethoven. But by the 1860s Spohr's star had already begun to fade. Eduard Hanslick wrote in 1866 that "It is hardly two decades since one had to warn against an all too zealous Spohr cult, and now already there needs to be a unified effort to rescue the works of the master from the fate of total oblivion." There was a resurgence of interest in Spohr around the time of the centenary of his birth (1884), but it proved to be very short-lived. Before the end of the century Spohr's name was no longer being included in lists of great composers.

Incidentally Ms. Ellicott, I think your piano trios are simply divine.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

AbsolutelyBaching said:


> Actually, I may have been referring to Albrechtsberger, Schmidt or Fux.
> 
> 
> 
> But thanks for confirming something I mentioned a while ago now: without using first names when cataloguing your music, you aren't able to tell all those Bachs apart (though I only have six in my collection).


J.S. Bach's baptismal names were Johann Sebastian. His given name was Sebastian. In other words, they called him Sebastian, like in that song by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. 

In the Netherlands though, everyone knows Sebastian (Bach) as "Bassie", like in "Bassie and Adriaan", a popular Dutch circus and television duo. This particular Adriaan, half of the popular circus duo, is most likely not the same Adriaan as NLAdriaan, who is a member here at TalkClassical, even though I can't be 100% sure, because NLAdriaan is also from the Netherlands I presume, hence his prefix NL.

Back to the Bach problem: a lot of blokes were called Johann in Lutheran Germany during those Bacchian times. Apparently, the 4th Evangelist Johann was a popular denomination back then.

Btw, there is nothing wrong with liking Louis (Spohr). He was considered a very prolific composer during his times. Even though I myself listen far more to Louis (Couperin). This particular Louis, to whom I refer, is also not known as François (Couperin), AKA "Le Grand".

I hope I made things clear. If not, please carry on.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Marc said:


> In the Netherlands though, everyone knows Sebastian (Bach) as "Bassie", like in "Bassie and Adriaan", a popular Dutch circus and television duo. This particular Adriaan, half of the popular circus duo, is most likely not the same Adriaan as NLAdriaan, who is a member here at TalkClassical, even though I can't be 100% sure, because NLAdriaan is also from the Netherlands I presume, hence his prefix NL.


I thought it stood for "National League" or something like that, Adriaan being an athlete's name.


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

Marc said:


> J.S. Bach's baptismal names were Johann Sebastian. His given name was Sebastian. In other words, they called him Sebastian.


I know. 

It's interesting that the New Grove does not bracket out the 'Johann' bit, as they do the 'Franz' for Haydn, for example. Yet they then go on to refer to him as 'Sebastian' all the way through their article on him. They seem a tad inconsistent in the matter.

CPE calls him 'Johann Sebastian Bach' in the opening lines of his Nekrolog, anyway. So if it's good enough for Emanuel, it's good enough for me!


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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

Thanks for the information. I will definitely check out these symphonies!


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