BROWN, Clive Louis Spohr. A Critical Biography (Cambridge 1984)
The standard “life and works” volume.
HAUPTMANN, Moritz The Letters of a Leipzig Cantor. Being the Letters of Moritz Hauptmann to Franz Hauser, Ludwig Spohr, and other musicians.. Edited by Prof. Dr. Alfred Schöne and Ferdinand Hiller; trs. by A. D. Coleridge (London 1892, 2 vols.)
An essential primary source.
MAYER, Lady Dorothy Moulton The Forgotten Master. The Life and Times of Louis Spohr (London 1959)
A popular biography based essentially on Spohr’s own published memoirs but including useful background information on the German political situation during Spohr’s life.
NEW GROVE II (London 2001)
Comprehensive entry by Clive Brown for this latest edition of an important musical reference work, including a full bibliography.
PLEASANTS, Henry The Musical Journeys of Louis Spohr (Oklahoma University Press 1961)
A modern translation of excerpts from Spohr’s Autobiography.
SPOHR, Louis Autobiography (London 1865, 2 vols; reprinted New York 1969)
Anonymous and stilted Victorian translation of Spohr’s Selbstbiographie.
BODER, Wolfram Die Kasseler Opern Louis Spohrs. Musikdramaturgie im sozialen Kontext (Kassel 2006)
Detailed study of the operas Spohr composed in Kassel, as well as covering the revivals there of his earlier ones.
GLENEWINKEL, Hans Spohrs Kammermusik für Streichinstrumente (Munich 1912)
Published dissertation which remains the only comprehensive and authoritative study of Spohr’s chamber music for strings.
GÖTHEL, Folker Lebenserinnerungen (Tutzing 1968, 2 vols.)
Scholarly edition of Spohr’s Selbstbiographie including important additional material.
-
The standard Spohr thematic catalogue.
HOMBURG, Herfried Louis Spohr. Bilder und Dokumente seiner Zeit (Kassel 1968)
Many valuable illustrations and facsimiles, and so of interest to readers without German.
KATOW, Paul Louis Spohr. Persönlichkeit und Werk (Luxembourg 1983)
A short study of Spohr’s personality and works.
SPOHR, Louis Selbstbiographie (Kassel & Göttingen 1860-
Spohr’s own memoirs edited by his second wife, Marianne, who also provides a summary of his later years, including extracts from letters and diaries.
BALDWIN, Daniel Frank Louis Spohr and Program Music. A Study of his Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Symphonies (University of Texas at Austin 1989)
BERRETT, Joshua Characteristic Conventions of Style in Selected Instrumental Works of Louis Spohr (University of Michigan 1974)
BROWN, Clive The Popularity and Influence of Spohr in England (Oxford University 1980)
JOHNSTON, Stephen Keith The Clarinet Concertos of Louis Spohr (University of Maryland at Betsville 1974)
STURM, Jonathan A. The Evolution of a Dramatic Compositional Style in the Violin Concertos of Louis Spohr (Indiana University 1995)
WULFHORST, Martin Louis Spohr’s Early Chamber Music 1796-
CHEN, Wen-
Spohr, and Carl Maria von Weber (University of Cincinnati 2012)
CAREW, Derek An Examination of the Composer-