# Dorette Spohr

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{{Short description|German musician}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Dorette Spohr 
| image              = File:Dorette Spohr, née Scheidler (1787-1834), by Carl Gottlob Schmeidler (1772-1838).jpg
| caption            = Portrait of Spohr, painted by Carl Gottlob Schmeidler
| native_name        = 
| native_name_lang   = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1787|12|2|df=y}}  
| birth_place        = [Kassel](/source/Kassel), Germany
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1834|11|20|1787|12|22|df=y}} 
| alma_mater         = 
| occupation         = [harp](/source/harp)ist and [pianist](/source/pianist)
}}
''' Dorette Spohr ''' (2 December 1787 – 20 November 1834), also called ''' Dorette Scheidler Spohr''', was a German [harp](/source/harp)ist and [pianist](/source/pianist) active in the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last= Pendle |first= Karin|date= 26 July 2012|title= Women in Music: A Research and Information Guide| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dXW_5ClSMDMC|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Oxon | publisher= Routledge | page=111| isbn=  978-1-135-84813-2}}</ref>

==Biography==
Dorette Spohr was born as Dorette Scheidler on 2 December 1787 in [Kassel](/source/Kassel), Germany. Her father was a [cellist](/source/cello) and [chamber music](/source/chamber_music)ian from [Gotha](/source/Gotha), and her mother was a singer. She learned harp from [Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen](/source/Johann_Georg_Heinrich_Backofen), who was a harpist at the court of Gotha.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last= Rensch |first= Roslyn|date= 27 February 2017|title= Harps and Harpists, Revised Edition| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MzvqDQAAQBAJ|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Bloomington, Indiana | publisher= Indiana University Press | page=153| isbn=  978-0-253-03029-0}}</ref>

In 1805, Scheidler met [Louis Spohr](/source/Louis_Spohr), a concertmaster at the court of Gotha. They were married on 2 February 1806.<ref>{{cite book |last= Smook |first= Gary A.|date= 10 June 2019|title= The 100 Greatest Composers and Their Musical Works: An Introduction to the Fascinating World of Classical Music| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CC2lDwAAQBAJ|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Altona, Canada | publisher= Friesen Press | page=134| isbn= 978-1-525-53785-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Ferris |first= George T.|date= 9 December 2019|title= Great Violinists and Pianists| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=h2HDDwAAQBAJ|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Glasgow | publisher= Good Press | page=NA| isbn= 978-1-406-86501-1}}</ref>

==Music career==
Spohr initially performed music composed by Backofen, but after her marriage, Louis Spohr composed for her.<ref>{{cite book |last= Zingel |first= Hans Joachim |date= 1 March 1992|title= Harp Music in the Nineteenth Century | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pJXG4HWViP4C|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Bloomington, Indiana | publisher= Indiana University Press | page=19| isbn=  978-0-253-36870-6}}</ref> Between June 1806 and October 1807, Spohr bought a harp from Paris using part of her dowry.<ref name="auto"/> 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](/source/Princess_Louise_of_Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg_(1800%E2%80%931831)).<ref name="auto"/> Spohr and her husband toured Germany, Switzerland, and Russia, performing with a number of musical orchestras.{{sfn| Rensch |2017|p=154}}

In 1820, after experiencing difficulties adapting to a new harp with a double-action pedal mechanism,<ref>{{cite book |last= Impett |first= Jonathan |date= 4 December 2017|title= Artistic Research in Music: Discipline and Resistance: Artists and Researchers at the Orpheus Institute| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w5dBDwAAQBAJ|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Leuven, Belgium | publisher= Leuven University Press|page=57| isbn=  978-9-462-70090-1}}</ref>{{sfn| Rensch |2017|p=154}} Spohr retired from playing harp. After her retirement, she became interested in piano.<ref>{{cite book |last= Radice |first= Mark A |date= 19 January 2012|title= Chamber Music: An Essential History| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SJr7rxTvx2AC|access-date= 1 April 2022|location= Ann Arbor, Michigan| publisher= University of Michigan Press | page=109| isbn=  978-0-472-05165-6}}</ref>

Spohr died in 1834 following a fever.{{sfn| Smook|2019|p=135}}{{sfn| Rensch |2017|p=155}} 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."{{sfn| Rensch |2017|p=155}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spohr, Dorette}}
Category:1787 births
Category:1834 deaths
Category:19th-century German pianists
Category:German harpists
Category:Musicians from Kassel
Category:German women harpists
Category:19th-century German women pianists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dorette Spohr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorette_Spohr) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorette_Spohr?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.