Shortly afterwards, I received a letter from Hermstedt, wherein, by request of the Princess von Sondershausen, he commissioned me to write some soprano songs for her with pianoforte and clarinet accompaniment. As this task was much to my liking, I composed in the course of a few weeks six songs of this kind (Op. 103, published by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzic) which by the express desire of the Princess I dedicated to her, and for which I received from her the present of a very costly ring.
I began the year 1838 with the composition of the “Vaterunser” [Lord’s Prayer] of Klopstock (Op. 104, Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzic) which I wrote with a double chorus for men’s voices; at first only for pianoforte accompaniment, and afterwards instrumentated for orchestra, as it was intended to be performed at the singing festival for the benefit of the Mozart institution at Frankfort, where though I was obliged to decline directing in person, it was first performed on the 29th July, and having been well studied, produced, according to the reports from there, a very solemn and imposing effect.
In the succeeding months I again composed several songs for soprani or tenori, which appeared as Op. 105, at Hellmuth’s in Halle.
Meanwhile the first public performance of “Paulus” took place at last on Good Friday in the garrison-church, and we were looking forward with pleasure to its repetition on Whitsunday, when our good Theresa fell suddenly ill of a malignant nervous fever, which in a short time brought her blooming life to a close. On the Tuesday before Ascension Day we had, chiefly at Theresa’s own wish, made a pleasant excursion to Wilhelmshöhe; there she first complained of indisposition, and on our return home she was immediately obliged to take to her bed. As Dr. Ludwig Pfeiffer, our then attendant physician and second brother of my wife, was just then absent from Cassel, we called in once more her uncle, Dr. Harnier, who although no alarming symptoms as yet shewed themselves, visited the patient several times daily, until after the lapse of a week, to our great terror he pronounced her complaint to be nervous fever. This now constantly increased in vehemence, and as in her fits of delirium she spoke continually of a journey we had contemplated to Carlsbad, the idea of which had greatly pleased her, I promised her that she should go thither as soon as she recovered. This greatly soothed her, but nevertheless did not diminish the fever, and on Whitsunday morning the blooming maiden of nineteen succumbed to the fearful malady. The loss of the talented amiable girl plunged us in such misery that we looked forward with earnest longing to the approaching theatrical vacation, in order to leave immediately the mournful surroundings of our home, and seek far away from Cassel some respite from the constant remembrance of our anguish.
After we had been delayed another eight days in Cassel by the reiterated retarding of my leave of absence, we were enabled to set out for Carlsbad on the 23rd June, accompanied by my mother-in-law, to whom the use of the waters had also been recommended, which was exceedingly welcome to me, particularly on account of my wife, who had taken very much to heart the loss of our Theresa. No sooner were we arrived in Carlsbad than we met with Hesse of Breslau, and in our walks to the springs soon made the acquaintance of other warm lovers of music, with whom on dull days, when the weather would permit of no excursions together to the charming environs, we made up small music parties at our lodgings. As a young lady from Breslau, Miss Ottilia Schubert, sang most charmingly, my wife practised her in my new songs with clarinet accompaniment, at which a first-rate clarinet player, Mr. Seemann from Hannover, took the clarinet part; in this manner our hearers became acquainted with a new style of songs which they had not known before, and which interested them exceedingly. Somewhat later, De Beriot also arrived with his sister-in-law Pauline Garcia, in Carlsbad, and the concert which he gave at the theatre afforded us very great enjoyment. He played with great purity, brilliancy and execution, but his compositions did not altogether please us, and Miss Garcia, afterwards the so-celebrated Mrs. Viardot-Garcia, sang with a voice of great compass, though not exactly a very fine one, and with great artistic skill. She especially delighted her hearers with the execution of her Spanish romances and ballads, in which she accompanied herself very well on the pianoforte.
[Here, unfortunately, Spohr’s own narrative of his life closes for ever!—To the subsequent encouragements of his relatives to resume it he used to reply: “I take no pleasure in writing now; and there are sufficient materials for the continuance of the Biography at any time, in the diaries and papers of my wife.”—Hereupon, this latter, mindful of this express indication of her husband’s, resolved to place notes, journals, and letters of every kind, and even memoranda jotted down for her sole private use and edification, at the disposal of those members of the family who undertook by means of extracts, without any pretence to literary skill—in simple, unadorned truthfulness, after Spohr’s own example—to carry out the history of his life to the end.]
After a beneficial use of the waters, Spohr left Carlsbad, and on his way back stopped at Leipzic, where some musical parties quickly got up by the families of his acquaintance enabled him to pass some very agreeable days, and at which he played his favorite quartet in A minor, with his newest concertino, to the great delight of his hearers. Upon this occasion, it was a source of great pleasure to him to make the long desired acquaintance of Robert Schumann, who though in other respects exceedingly quiet and reserved, yet evinced his admiration of Spohr with great warmth, and gratified him by the performance of several of his interesting fantasias.
Mendelssohn was at the time unfortunately absent, and in his next letter to Spohr expressed his great regret thereat; and requested him at the same time to send him his last symphony (No. 5, C minor), as it was intended to perform it at the opening of the approaching season in the first concert of the Leipzic Gewandhaus. While expressing his thanks for it beforehand, he says at the same time, in reference to a song of Spohr’s with which he had just previously become acquainted: “As I am now on the subject of thanks, I must thank you many times and with all my heart for the beautiful song in F sharp with clarinet accompaniment, the “Zwiegesang,” which pleases me exceedingly and has so completely charmed me with its prettyness, that I both sing and play it every day. It is not on account of any one particular feature that I admire it, but for its perfectly natural sweetness as a whole, and which from beginning to end flows so lightly and gratefully to the feelings. How often have I sung it with my sisters, and each time with renewed pleasure! And for that I must now also thank you....”