Louis Spohr (1784-1859) was one of the leading composers of the early Romantic period. In his operas he pointed forward to Wagner (including the use of "Leitmotives"). His contemporaries therefore compared him to Beethoven. For later generations, however, he was much more of a representative of the friendly Biedermeier culture. Because of this, Spohr's work was falsely forgotten. Only after the
… Second World War did people start to get attention again for the instrumental music of Spohr. Regarding his songs, revaluation is much slower. Nevertheless, Spohr deserves recognition here too, because these songs offer more than just Biedermeier sentiments. Spohr did try to push the boundaries of traditional song. A number of song cycles will be performed by soprano Majorie Patterson and the pianist Daniel Sarge. (HJ) _more
