duos and trios, as well as solo compositions, which evinced great
promise, though crude and faulty in the extreme. He was then sent
to Brunswick, that he might have the advantage of more scientific
instruction, and to this end was placed under the care of Kunisch,
an excellent violin teacher, and under Hartung for harmony and
counterpoint. The latter was a sort of Dr. Dryasdust, learned, barren,
acrid, but an efficient instructor. When young Spohr showed him one of
his compositions, he growled out, "There's time enough for that; you
must learn something first." It may be said of Spohr, however, that his
studies in theory were for the most part self-taught, for he was a most
diligent student of the great masters, and was gifted with a keenly
analytic mind.

At the age of fourteen young Spohr was an effective soloist, and, as his
father began to complain of the heavy expense of his musical education,
the boy determined to make an effort for self-support. After revolving
many schemes, he conceived the notion of applying to the duke, who was
known as an ardent patron of music. He managed to place himself in the
way of his Serene Highness, while the latter was walking in his garden,
and boldly preferred his request for an appointment in the court
orchestra. The duke was pleased to favor the application, and young
Spohr was permitted to display his skill at a court concert, in which he
acquitted himself so admirably as to secure the cordial patronage of the
sovereign. Said the duke: "Be industrious and well behaved, and, if you
make good progress, I will put you under the tuition of a great master."
So Louis Spohr was installed as a _Kammer-musicus_, and his patron
fulfilled his promise in 1802 by placing his _protégé_ under the charge
of Francis Eck, one of the finest violinists then living. Under the
tuition of this accomplished instructor, the young virtuoso made such
rapid advance in the excellence of his technique, that he was soon