The passage of time has not been kind to Louis Spohr.
Although he was one of the most sought-after composers of the first half of the 19th century, the German’s name hardly garners a flicker of recognition today, even among many classical insiders.
Is the once-celebrated contemporary of Ludwig van Beethoven and Carl Maria von Weber a victim of bad public relations, or have more than 150 years’ worth of hindsight revealed that he was simply overrated?
“It’s somewhere in between the two, I think,” said Clive Brown, professor of applied musicology at the University of Leeds in England and author of “Louis Spohr: A Critical Biography.”
Denver listeners will have a chance to judge for themselves with two rare opportunities beginning Saturday to hear two major works by him — the Octet in E for Strings and Winds, Op. 32 (1815), and Mass in C for Five Vocal Soloists and Double Chorus, Op. 54 (1820).
Whatever else can be said about Spohr, Brown believes he deserves more recognition than he usually receives for at least two major accomplishments.
First, his writing, especially his chromatic (extended, complex) harmonies, exerted a major influence on a range of young composers of the time, including Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Wagner. “A lot of Wagner’s harmony is in Spohr some 20 years earlier,” Brown said.
Second, the composer is responsible for more significant works than posterity has given him credit. “When you start to look at the symphonies, the chamber music, the operas, there is some wonderful music in them,” the musicologist said.
Listeners afraid of contemporary composers of which they have never heard have nothing to fear from Spohr.
“His starting point was Mozart, who was the person he admired most of all,” Brown said. “And if you think about late Mozart, it’s full of chromaticism too. Spohr takes it a stage further, but he has the purity and wonderful classical proportions that Mozart used.”
Spohr’s little-heard Octet was written in Vienna when he was serving as conductor of the Theater an der Wien opera house. He was inspired by some of the virtuoso members of its orchestra, especially a clarinetist and two French horn players.
The piece is scored for the unique combination of violin (originally performed by Spohr, who was a leading violin virtuoso of the time), two violas, cello, double bass, two French horns and clarinet.
“He wrote it partly to display the violin part to perfection, but partly also to capitalize on the wonderful tone colors you could get with two horns and a clarinet and strings,” Brown said.
Eight members of the Colorado Symphony, including concertmaster YuMi Hwang-Williams and principal French horn player Michael Thornton, will tackle the challenging piece Saturday afternoon during a concert sponsored by Englewood Arts.
Thornton discovered the 35-minute Octet last summer when he performed it during the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, and he was immediately captivated by it.
“It has so many beautiful melodies in it,” he said, “and everyone who attended the shows last summer just thought, ‘Where did this piece come from? It’s so great.’ “
He believes it will be an ideal complement to the program’s other work, Antonín Dvorák’s Serenade in D minor for Winds, Cello and Double Bass, Op. 44.
“I realized this (Englewood) program was an opportunity to showcase some of the great wind writing, and this (Spohr) piece has spectacular clarinet and horn parts, and also it has an unbelievably virtuosic violin part,” Thornton said.
In March, St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and the Colorado Chorale will join forces to present Spohr’s Mass for Double Chorus, which calls for a large and small choir and five soloists.
The piece was inspired by the composer’s visit to Heidelberg, where he discovered a choir that specialized in the music of Palestrina and other 16th-century composers.
Inspired by what he heard, Spohr decided to write a piece that would use some of the compositional devices of those early works but with modern harmony.
“That’s very rarely done, indeed,” Brown said of the Mass. “It’s incredibly difficult even now for a choir to sing, because the chromaticism is very demanding. Spohr himself tried to get it performed in Leipzig soon after he’d written it, and it was a total disaster. They couldn’t even begin to sing it.”
Brown believes that the more listeners hear Spohr’s music, the more they’ll like it. That theory will get tested in Denver in the next couple of months with an unusual focus on two of the underappreciated composer’s works.
Upcoming concerts featuring the music of Louis Spohr
“COLORADO SYMPHONE WINDS NI CONCERT.”
Chamber music. Hampden Hall, Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. A group of Colorado Symphony Orchestra musicians, including concertmaster YuMi Hwang-Williams and principal French horn player Michael Thornton, take part in this Englewood Arts offering. The program consists of Spohr’s Octet and Dvorak’s Serenade for Winds, Cello and Double Bass. 2 p.m. Saturday. $15, $12 seniors and $5 students. 303-806-8196 or .
“CHORI ANTIPHONI.”
Choral music. 7:30 p.m. March 19, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1350 Washington St., and 7:30 p.m. March 20, Wheat Ridge Methodist Church, 7530 W. 38th Ave. St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and the Colorado Chorale team for a program highlighted by a very rare performance of Spohr’s Mass for Double Chorus. $22 and $30, $5 students. 303-298-1970 or and 303-446-9207 or
