had been interdicted by the government.

On reaching Cassel he went to Spohr, who accorded him a cold reception.
"I have come more than five hundred miles to hear you," said Ole Bull,
wishing to be polite. "Very well," was the reply, "you can now go to
Nordhausen; I am to attend a musical festival there," Bull therefore
went to Nordhausen, where he heard a quartet by Maurer, of which Spohr
played the first violin part. He was so overwhelmed with disappointment
at the manner in which the quartet was played by the four masters that
he came to the conclusion that he was deceived in his aspirations, and
had no true calling for music.

Spohr was a most methodical man, and had no appreciation for wild
genius. He saw only the many faults of the self-taught youth, and coldly
advised him to give up his idea of a musical career, declining to accept
him as a pupil. Some five years later, Bull having in the meantime
refused to accept this advice, which did not coincide with his own
inclinations, Spohr heard him play, and wrote thus of him: "His
wonderful playing and sureness of his left hand are worthy of the
highest admiration, but, unfortunately, like Paganini, he sacrifices
what is artistic to something that is not quite suitable to the noble
instrument. His tone, too, is bad, and since he prefers a bridge that is
quite plain, he can use A and D strings only in the lower positions, and
even then pianissimo. This renders his playing (when he does not let
himself loose with some of his own pieces) monotonous in the extreme. We
noticed this particularly in two Mozart quartets he played at my house.
Otherwise he plays with a good deal of feeling, but without refined
taste."

After his discouraging interview with Spohr, Ole Bull returned to