Louis Spohr (1784-1859)

Episodes

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20090120091214With Donald Macleod. Overture, Op 12. Clarinet Concerto No 1. Sonata (Alruna, Wo0 15).
20090220091215Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Louis Spohr.

Before he had reached the age of 30, Spohr's considerable talent was the talk of Europe. He had left his hometown in provincial Germany and secured a plum job in Vienna, then the centre of the musical universe. Once there, he composed a wide range of fine works, struck out on a concert tour of Europe and founded a great friendship with a chap by the name of Beethoven.

Donald Macleod explores Spohr's work in Vienna, where he befriended Beethoven.

20090320091216Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Louis Spohr, focusing on his emphatic commitment to opera.

By 1822, Spohr had returned to Germany after several years of international travel and immediately set about trying to secure a reputation as an operatic composer. He saw a real need not just for great German opera, but for a manifesto that German composers should follow in their quest for a truly distinctive national style.

With Donald Macleod. Jessonda - Overture and excerpts; Violin Concerto No 8.

20090420091217Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Louis Spohr, considering how he laid the musical foundations for other more famous composers.

If history has not been as generous to Spohr as perhaps it might, one reason could be the high wall of Romanticism that seems to stand between us and the composer. The gracious elegance of Spohr's classicism seems altogether less grand than the gestures that were to follow from the pens of Berlioz, Bruckner, Mahler, Strauss and others, who he influenced.

Donald Macleod considers how Spohr laid the musical foundations for other composers.

200905 LAST20091218Donald Macleod concludes his exploration of the life and work of Louis Spohr, considering some of the radiant works that emerged - against the odds - during the composer's last years. It was a time that was far from the restful, contented autumn that it might have been, as the politics of the town of Kassel, where Spohr lived and worked left a sour taste in his mouth.

Donald Macleod considers some of the radiant music from Spohr's last years.