Louis Spohr wrote four chamber works in a little-used form, the double string quartet. It’s not the same as a string octet; rather, it presents two quartets playing antiphonally and occasionally together. In performance, they’re seated on opposite sides of the stage. This kind of piece is best appreciated by attending a live performance near the stage or using headphones.

His first double quartet, Opus 65, written in 1823, makes good use of the opportunity for back-and-forth music. Performances are likely to involve two existing quartets getting together, in which case the second quartet would feel cheated; most of the good lines go to quartet 1. More specifically, violin 1:1 (the first violin of quartet 1) dominates the music; in early performances, it would have been Spohr himself. His later works in the form treat the two groups more equally.
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In this post I’m looking at a single song by Spohr, “Das heimliche Lied” (the secret song). It’s part of a set of “Six German Songs,” Opus 103, where the singer is accompanied by a piano and a clarinet. The combination is unusual, but the clarinet is one of my favorite instruments, and he uses it effectively. The Spohr Society has a discussion of the Six German Songs, with information on the people who wrote the texts. Ernst Koch, the author of “Das heimliche Lied” and a contemporary of Spohr, is obscure today but not forgotten.

Right at the start, there’s a question about the song’s title. Most of the sources I’ve found give “Das heimliche Lied,” but the Spohr Society article gives it as “Das heimliche Leid” (the secret suffering). The latter is a more literal description of the poem’s contents, but “secret song” has a poetic feeling that fits. Neither word occurs in the text. It turns out that Koch’s title for the poem was actually “Relique eines Verschollenen” (relic of a missing person), but nobody uses that title for Spohr’s setting. The poem is about emotions that aren’t expressed or perceived, so we don’t know what they are, making the text broadly applicable. We all have feelings we hide from others.
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The Sixth Symphony by Louis Spohr isn’t one of my favorites, but it’s fascinating to write about. It’s known as the “Historical” Symphony, and it presents an overview of musical styles from the Baroque to Spohr’s era. The movements are:

1. Bach-Handel period, 1720
2. Haydn-Mozart period, 1780
3. Beethoven period, 1810
4. Very latest, 1840

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In 1806 Louis Spohr married Dorette Scheidler, an excellent harpist. The two of them often performed together, with Louis on violin. Their marriage led to his developing a thorough understanding of the concert harp. Mozart’s concerto for flute and harp is delightful, but he treats the harp like a naked piano. Many other composers have used the harp mostly to add its shimmering color to the orchestra. Spohr makes free use of scales, chords, and arpeggios, while avoiding clichéd usages of the instrument. Spohr’s works for harp, alone or with a few other parts, are among the most important for the instrument. They include five sonatas for violin and harp, listed in the order of composition which Clive Brown’s biography gives:

• Sonata in C minor, WoO 23
• Sonata in B-flat major, Opus 16
• Sonata in E-flat (D) major, Opus 113
• Sonata in A-flat (G) major, Opus 115
• Sonata concertante in E-flat (D) major, Opus 114

They were all relatively early works, but he kept the last three just for performance with Dorette for years before publishing them, resulting in their high opus numbers.
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Sonata-like pieces for miscellaneous small ensembles were popular in the Classical and early Romantic periods. They might be called serenades, divertimenti, or cassations. Sometimes they were named for the number of instruments; Spohr did this with his Septet and Octet. The Opus 32 Octet, composed in 1814, has an unusual instrumentation even for this catch-all category: a clarinet, two horns, a violin, two violas, a cello, and a bass. The clarinet, horns, and violin get most of the leading lines, leaving the lower strings to provide solid support throughout. Spohr was a top-rank violinist, and he may have intended the violin part for himself; it’s full of fireworks.

The slow, brief introduction presents an important motif in the first measure, the eighth notes E-G-C (down a sixth, up a fourth). The intervals change, but the shape is consistent. Shortly we hear a dotted rhythm, up and down a half step. These two bits provide most of the material for the Allegro, which goes from E minor to E major. The down-up motif is the basis for the first theme, tossed around from one instrument to another. The dotted motif impatiently makes an appearance in the first theme, but it’s the secondary theme where it establishes ownership. The violinist gets to show off in sixteenth-note passages all through the movement. The music is written in 3/2 time, but it’s easy to hear it as 3/4 initially and get confused. It’s three moderate beats to the bar, not three fast ones.
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Louis Spohr, like Beethoven, wrote nine symphonies. (Actually, he wrote a tenth but was dissatisfied with it and withdrew it; it’s heard occasionally.) As with Beethoven, his Fifth is a stormy work in C minor. It’s my favorite of his symphonies.

Is this symphony really in C minor? The first movement begins and ends in C major, and the symphony ends in that key. The slow introduction presents a lyrical theme that doesn’t suggest any storms at first. This is what I’ll call the “peace” theme, conveying a message of calm against a sea of troubles. In the seventeenth measure, staccato triplets intrude, the mode becomes minor, and the tempo accelerates. At the start of the Allegro, the key signature becomes C minor, and the conflict is fully underway. The first theme is full of tension; the second is in E-flat major but is very hesitant.
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This is the second in what I can now call a series of blog posts on works by Louis Spohr.

Die letzten Dinge (The Last Judgment) deals with a big topic, but it’s a small-scale oratorio. It takes a little over an hour to perform, and it isn’t very difficult. Choral societies might find it a good addition to their repertoire. There are no solo numbers or fancy vocal passages; what’s needed is four vocalists who can blend well with each other and the chorus. The text is based on the Book of Revelation, so we’re in for a wild ride. The work is oriented more toward drama than deep religious feeling.

The work is listed as WoO 61, even though it was published during his lifetime. It was a huge success at its first performance in 1826 and later in England.
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