| Act. 1. | |
| Double Quartet No. 1 | Spohr. |
| Quintet-Pianoforte, Flute, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon | Spohr. |
| Double Quartet No. 2 | Spohr. |
| Nonetto | Spohr. |
| Déjeuner à la fourchette. | |
| Act. 2. | |
| Quintet | Spohr. |
| Ottetto | Spohr. |
| Double Quartet No. 3 | Spohr. |
| To commence at 2 o’clock—Déjeuneur at 5— Second act to commence at 7. | |
This festival, which was in every respect successful, and got up with princely magnificence, must have been the more gratifying to Spohr, when he saw how the company, consisting of fifty persons, listened until late in the evening with admirable perseverance and wrapped attention to his tones, without evincing the least sign of weariness. When gratified beyond measure by a festive testimonial so unusual, he felt called upon to express his very great thanks to Mr. Alsager, he found to his great surprise on the following day among the mass of letters which he constantly received, one also from him expressing his heartfelt thanks, which concluded as follows: “May you enjoy all the happiness that can result from the consciousness that you are a benefactor to the world and communicate happiness to others in a circle still increasing and never ending.”
Upon their pleasure trip on the 12th July Spohr and his wife were accompanied by Professor Taylor, in whom they found both a well-informed and amiable guide and companion. They visited Winchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bath, Bristol and Wales. With the natural beauties of the latter Spohr was so much charmed that in many parts he considered them to surpass Switzerland, and all that he had ever seen. On the return journey to London, he was loud in his expressions of admiration of the beauties of Cheltenham, and of the fine university of Oxford. Though in accordance with the advice of the Queen he had thought to make this little journey incognito; nevertheless his arrival soon became known in each town, and the composer of “Die letzten Dinge,” the pianoforte arrangement of which he found in almost every house, was received by every one after his own manner, with the highest honours, upon which occasions many incidents occurred that either greatly amused or moved him. Meanwhile, in London, every possible exertion had been made, and upon his return, Spohr found that his oratorio had been studied with such faultless precision, that as he wrote word in a letter home “at the grand rehearsal he was really much moved both with its excellent execution, and the conviction that such a number of persons totally stranger to him, and for the most part engaged in business (who in London have indeed but little leisure time) should have devoted their evenings to a late hour, during his absence of eight days, to the study of this difficult work, from pure love of it, and to afford him an agreeable surprise.”
The performance itself is then thus described: “Imagine a gigantic hall with places for 3000 persons, crammed full, head above head; in a balcony apart, as the bill expresses it ‘Madame Spohr and Friends’ looking down upon the scene. Opposite the magnificent and stupendous organ and on all sides around it, an orchestra and choir of singers numbering five hundred persons, grouped in the most charming manner; in that orchestra Spohr enters, and at the same moment the whole public and orchestra rise from their seats, all waving handkerchiefs and hats and shouting long and loudly altogether “Bravo, Hurrah!” But no sooner did Spohr lift his baton than all sat down, and a deep silence of anxious attention reigned. Then resounded through the spacious hall the first moving accords of the overture, like music from another sphere. The whole performance proceeded now grandly and as though with one impulsive inspiration in all. A solemn thrilling emotion pervaded us, and at many powerful passages, such as “Er regiert auf ewig (he rules for ever) Hallelujah!”—“Du nur allein bist Gott” &c. (Thou, and Thou only art God),—then it was as though all mankind had assembled to praise God with the purest harmony. But doubly wonderful at such outbursts of powerful grandeur is the ever-recurring entry at the right moment of the tenderest shades of expression.... Three airs and the grand chorus of the Persians were encored with vehement acclamation. At the conclusion the people, at a loss to find a new and further way of expressing their rapture, demonstrated it more prominently by mounting at once upon the benches. When at length Spohr had made his way through the mass of those who pressed forward to shake hands with and congratulate him as he passed on to the door of the hall, I observed with astonishment that the whole company remained behind, and whispered to each other, which induced me to think something important was still to take place; when after a time the noise broke out anew and Spohr was again vehemently called for. Upon this two gentlemen led him back once more, and having informed him that the public much wished him to address a few words to them, he at length determined to do so, and made a short speech in German, which although they did not understand, was very gratefully received by the assembly. Hereupon the President stepped forward, and having delivered a long address to Spohr in English, which was repeatedly interrupted by applause and cries of “Hear! hear!” he presented to him in the name of the company a large silver salver with a beautifully engraved inscription commemorative of the evening festival,” &c.—This solemn concluding scene crowned all that Spohr had yet experienced, and the sad moment of parting from hospitable England now approached. Spohr himself was painfully moved by it, although the earnest solicitations of every kind which poured in upon him, gave him little time for calm reflection. Daily from various quarters did he receive the blank sheets of albums with the request for some souvenir from his own hand, many of which yet awaited their execution and kept him occupied at his writing-table up to the time of his departure. After he had satisfied these last requests even, and at length embarked on board the steamer, he good humouredly remarked to the crowd of friends and admirers who had collected to bid him farewell: “There is now indeed scarcely a lover of music in England who has not my autograph,”—the steamer was hailed from the shore, and on looking in that direction he saw a boat rowing fast towards them, and shortly, several gentlemen came on board, bearing numerous albums that had arrived too late, with the entreaty that Spohr would write something in each during the journey down to Gravesend, whither they would accompany him with that view! Actually also, did Spohr comply, and writing, he left the shores of England, and so made the parting moments somewhat less painful to him!
Early in the month of October 1843, a meeting of the Philological Society was to take place in Cassel, and the generally expressed wish to honour the same with some musical performances was the more natural, from the means necessary thereto being more especially at command there. Upon Spohr’s recommendation the president of the society and Gymnasial-Director Weber proposed the performance of “Antigone” at the theatre, with Mendelssohn’s choruses; and Spohr expressed himself ready to comply with the wishes of the magistracy to give a performance of his oratorio: “Der Fall Babylons” in the church, for the benefit of the poor of the city. As, however, the permission of the Prince could not be obtained for both, the foreign guests were obliged to content themselves with a private performance of “Antigone” in the spacious hall where they held their sittings, upon which occasion Councillor Niemeyer read the tragedy, and the choruses were sung with accompaniment of two pianofortes by the singers of the men’s choral society under Spohr’s direction. In this manner all went off very effectingly, and the strangers were so well content that they not only expressed their most heartfelt thanks to Spohr for his exertions, but at their next sitting, (at which he assisted with much interest) unanimously voted also a letter of thanks to Mendelssohn. Spohr himself was also so much pleased with the spirited and truly original music “that he now exceedingly desired to hear it also with full orchestral treatment.” But as under the present overruling circumstances in Cassel this was not to be achieved, he shortly afterwards gave a repetition of the reading of the tragedy in the same manner, for a charitable purpose, but in a more spacious building, by which means a wider circle of the lovers of music were enabled for the first time to become acquainted with the interesting work.
About this time Spohr began to turn his mind seriously to the composition of another opera, which probably arose from the frequency with which the libretto of operas were sent to him. But as none of them satisfied him, and as upon a closer examination, either the treatment of the subject or the form of the musical pieces did not suit him, he conceived the idea of writing with the assistance of his wife the text of a libretto, and chose for subject the once favorite drama of Kotzebue: “The Crusaders,” which seemed to him particularly adapted to the object he had this time in view, namely, an entire deviation from the customary form, as well as from the style, of his own previous opera music; in composing the whole throughout as a musical drama, without unnecessary repetitions of the text and ornamentations, and with a constantly progressing development in the treatment. As soon as the libretto was completed, he set to work with great spirit, and in a short time completed the first act, which he immediately arranged for the pianoforte, and had performed in his house by a select number of the best dilettanti, in order to convince himself of the success of his work, before he proceeded further with it. When he became satisfied how clearly and intelligibly, even without the aid of scenic representations, the lifelike expression of his music depicted the different characters and situations, and how powerfully both singers and auditory were impressed by it, he proceeded with confidence with the next act, and finished that also, all but the instrumentation, before the commencement of the theatrical vacation.
As object of his customary summer journey Spohr had selected Paris, in order to shew his wife the grandeur of that brilliant capital, and to visit at the same time the international exhibition of industry, which, as the first of its kind, had so greatly excited public attention, that strangers from every quarter of the globe flocked to it to behold the endless treasures in every department of manufacturing industry, and to admire the products of art. With the daily concourse of the visitors it was however almost impossible to obtain an undisturbed and attentive view; it was therefore matter of no small self-congratulation for Spohr and his wife to receive a ticket of admission procured by especial favour upon a day that had been set apart for the King’s visit to the exhibition, when exhibitors only were permitted to be present. By this means they were also furnished with the rare opportunity of seeing the venerable Louis Philippe, accompanied by his wife, his sister Adelaide, and the then still very youthful Duke de Montpensier, pass close before them, and to hear distinctly the King’s remarks upon the various manufactures displayed.
At a season of the year so unfavourable for musical performances of any consequence, Spohr could scarcely hope to enjoy that gratification, but there, in a foreign land he had the unhoped-for satisfaction of an enjoyment he had vainly endeavoured to obtain at home, that namely of assisting at a performance of “Antigone” with Mendelssohn’s choruses, which on that evening had been given for the thirty-second time in succession at the Odéon theatre to constantly crowded houses, and Spohr was deeply impressed with the excellence of the music and of the scenic arrangements.
But although the best musicians were for the most part absent from Paris, he nevertheless passed some very pleasant hours in the society of Mr. Habenec (director of the conservatory), Panseron, Halevy, Auber, Berlioz, Adam, &c. On the part of the conservatory it was also greatly wished to shew him some mark of attention, although under the circumstances some difficulty was experienced in doing so, as appears from a notice in a Parisian journal, in the following words: “Mais que faire pour prouver à l’auteur de ‘Faust’ et de ‘Jessonda’ que la France sait apprécier dignement ses belles compositions et leur auteur? Une idée vient soudain à un ami de Mr. Habenec: ‘L’époque des magnifiques concerts du Conservatoire est passée! dit-il; eh bien! écrivons partout, réunissons une partie de nos artistes, et essayons de tresser une petite couronne à Spohr, en exécutant devant lui un de ses plus beaux morceaux.’ Le projet est approuvé, on n’avait que quelques jours pour le mettre en œuvre. Des circulaires sont adressées à vingt, trente lieues de Paris. Des hommes d’un talent supérieur, qui n’auraient pas quitté leur dolce far niente à prix d’argent, se hâtent d’accourir, et la Société des Concerts, à l’exception de deux de ses membres qui sont maintenant en Italie, se trouve réunie à Paris comme un seul homme. La salle du Conservatoire est ouverte, tons les exécutants s’y rendent, et Spohr y est amené comme spectateur unique; c’est pour lui seul que soixante-dix-huit musiciens sont là, c’est aux pieds de sa gloire qu’ils viennent se prosterner, et lui font entendre son chef-d’œuvre symphonique: ‘La création de la Musique’ (‘Weihe der Töne’).”