Dorette Spohr - Wikiwand

German musician

Born(1787-12-02)2 December 1787

Kassel, Germany

Died20 November 1834(1834-11-20) (aged 46)

Dorette Spohr
Portrait of Spohr, painted by Carl Gottlob Schmeidler
Born	(1787-12-02)2 December 1787 Kassel, Germany
Died	20 November 1834(1834-11-20) (aged 46)
Occupations	harpist and pianist

Dorette Spohr (2 December 1787 – 20 November 1834), also called Dorette Scheidler Spohr, was a German harpist and pianist active in the early 19th century.^[1]

Dorette Spohr was born as Dorette Scheidler on 2 December 1787 in Kassel, Germany. Her father was a cellist and chamber musician from Gotha, and her mother was a singer. She learned harp from Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen, who was a harpist at the court of Gotha.^[2]

In 1805, Scheidler met Louis Spohr, a concertmaster at the court of Gotha. They were married on 2 February 1806.^[3]^[4]

Music career

Spohr initially performed music composed by Backofen, but after her marriage, Louis Spohr composed for her.^[5] Between June 1806 and October 1807, Spohr bought a harp from Paris using part of her dowry.^[2] From 1810 to 1812, Spohr was principal harpist at the court of Gotha, where she taught the Duke's daughter, Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.^[2] Spohr and her husband toured Germany, Switzerland, and Russia, performing with a number of musical orchestras.^[6]

In 1820, after experiencing difficulties adapting to a new harp with a double-action pedal mechanism,^[7]^[6] Spohr retired from playing harp. After her retirement, she became interested in piano.^[8]

Spohr died in 1834 following a fever.^[9]^[10] Although she seems “not to have composed any music herself," Rensch says that "she inspired the composition of some of the first major ensemble music for harp and violin."^[10]

References

↑ Pendle, Karin (26 July 2012). Women in Music: A Research and Information Guide. Oxon: Routledge. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-135-84813-2. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
1 2 3 Rensch, Roslyn (27 February 2017). Harps and Harpists, Revised Edition. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-253-03029-0. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
↑ Smook, Gary A. (10 June 2019). The 100 Greatest Composers and Their Musical Works: An Introduction to the Fascinating World of Classical Music. Altona, Canada: Friesen Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-525-53785-1. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
↑ Ferris, George T. (9 December 2019). Great Violinists and Pianists. Glasgow: Good Press. p. NA. ISBN 978-1-406-86501-1. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
↑ Zingel, Hans Joachim (1 March 1992). Harp Music in the Nineteenth Century. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-253-36870-6. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
1 2 Rensch 2017, p. 154.
↑ Impett, Jonathan (4 December 2017). Artistic Research in Music: Discipline and Resistance: Artists and Researchers at the Orpheus Institute. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-9-462-70090-1. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
↑ Radice, Mark A (19 January 2012). Chamber Music: An Essential History. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-472-05165-6. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
↑ Smook 2019, p. 135.
1 2 Rensch 2017, p. 155.

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat
National	United States Netherlands
Artists	MusicBrainz
People	BMLO Deutsche Biographie DDB
Other	RISM

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