From the preface: "Spohr was a man devoted to his art, and although far from wealthy, often sacrificed his time—which to him, as to most of us, was money—in giving gratuitous instruction to young men of ability too poor to pay for lessons; and not unfrequently has he unhesitatingly dismissed some rich, well-paying, but dull scholar to make way for a poor but talented pupil
From the preface: "Spohr was a man devoted to his art, and although far from wealthy, often sacrificed his time—which to him, as to most of us, was money—in giving gratuitous instruction to young men of ability too poor to pay for lessons; and not unfrequently has he unhesitatingly dismissed some rich, well-paying, but dull scholar to make way for a poor but talented pupil, in hopes of thereby benefitting his art—and this was his sole reward.
Another prominent trait in Spohr’s character was his childlike simplicity, combined with never-failing good-nature and an inability to bear malice. Nor did the many unavoidable trials and vexations of a long life ever permanently disturb his good humour or sour his temper; and even gross injustice failed to do more than temporarily ruffle the calm serenity of his soul. Thus he passed through the world, an active and highly useful member of society, beloved and respected by all who knew him, till in process of time he went down to his grave full of years and honour.
As is explained in the text, the Autobiography comes to an end with the month of June 1838; but the description of the life and doings of the great master from that date till the time of his death was continued from reliable materials furnished by Mrs. Spohr and other members of the family; so that the whole forms a true account and lively picture of Spohr’s earthly career from his cradle to his grave."
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ebook
Published
June 16th 2014
by Project Gutenberg
(first published 1865)
The book is almost 700 pages long (in print). About 250 to 300 of those pages were pretty great but the other 400 to 450 pages were just terrible. Not terrible, but redundant -- like looking at photographs of brides maids. You know that each photograph is of a different set of girls at a completely different ceremony, yet they are all the same with just different faces and dress colors. Much of this book is like that with lists of music played and musicians who played with him and the fact that
The book is almost 700 pages long (in print). About 250 to 300 of those pages were pretty great but the other 400 to 450 pages were just terrible. Not terrible, but redundant -- like looking at photographs of brides maids. You know that each photograph is of a different set of girls at a completely different ceremony, yet they are all the same with just different faces and dress colors. Much of this book is like that with lists of music played and musicians who played with him and the fact that he did not like the skill of a lot of the musicians he listened to.
There was some very interesting stuff. He had a few outdoor music festivals where local amateurs were invited to come play and the description of this, in particular the first one, was very cool. Also, he climbed Mount Vesuvius on one of his numerous vacations and crossed over molten ground where there was just a shell of recently dried rock to walk upon.
Gosh it was long in between the interesting parts though....
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