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.

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.

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

Music career Spohr initially performed music composed by Backofen, but after her marriage, Louis Spohr composed for her. Between June 1806 and October 1807, Spohr bought a harp from Paris using part of her dowry. Spohr retired from playing harp. After her retirement, she became interested in piano.

Spohr died in 1834 following a fever. 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."