Dorette Spohr

Dorette Spohr (2 December 1787 – 20 November 1834), also called Dorette Scheidler Spohr, was a German harpist and pianist active in the early 19th century.^[1]

Dorette Spohr
Portrait of Spohr, painted by Carl Gottlob Schmeidler
Born	(1787-12-02)2 December 1787 Kassel, Germany
Died	20 November 1834(1834-11-20) (aged 46)
Nationality	German
Occupation(s)	harpist and pianist

Biography

Dorette Spohr was born as Dorette Scheidler on 2 December 1787 in Kassel, Germany. Her father was a cellist and chamber musician from Gotha, and her mother was a singer. She learned harp from Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen, who was a harpist at the court of Gotha.^[2]

In 1805, Scheidler met Louis Spohr, a concertmaster at the court of Gotha. They were married on 2 February 1806.^[3][4]

Music career

Spohr initially performed music composed by Backofen, but after her marriage, Louis Spohr composed for her.^[5] Between June 1806 and October 1807, Spohr bought a harp from Paris using part of her dowry.^[2] From 1810 to 1812, Spohr was principal harpist at the court of Gotha, where she taught the Duke's daughter, Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.^[2] Spohr and her husband toured Germany, Switzerland, and Russia, performing with a number of musical orchestras.^[6]

In 1820, after experiencing difficulties adapting to a new harp with a double-action pedal mechanism,^[7][6] Spohr retired from playing harp. After her retirement, she became interested in piano.^[8]

Spohr died in 1834 following a fever.^[9][10] Although she seems “not to have composed any music herself," Rensch says that "she inspired the composition of some of the first major ensemble music for harp and violin."^[10]