=Spohr and the Romantic Opera=.—=Ludwig Spohr= (1784-1859), Germany’s greatest violinist and a composer of eminence in many fields, wrote a number of operas. Of these, _Faust_ and _Jessonda_ stand first in showing a vein of genuine romanticism, albeit they lack the Folk-element which brought Weber’s music so close to the hearts of the people. Full of beauty as they undoubtedly are, like all of Spohr’s music they are weakened by the constant recurrence of certain mannerisms, such as chromatic progressions of a persistent type, enharmonic modulations, the over-frequent use of diminished intervals. Spohr exercised a strong influence in favor of the new direction on account of his high position as the most esteemed composer and performer of the day. His significance in the romantic movement consists in his being, as it were, an intermediary between the late classical period represented by Beethoven and the modern music drama. He knew Beethoven in Vienna, and in his latter days, when director of the opera in Cassel, did his utmost to introduce Wagner’s early operas to the German public. =Marschner, Weber’s Successor=.—Weber’s legitimate successor in the romantic opera was =Heinrich Marschner= (1795-1861). He had been associated with Weber as assistant conductor at the opera in Dresden, and a strong friendship existed between them. Weber’s influence, however, was wide and far-reaching; it extended beyond the opera. Marschner’s sphere was practically confined to the stage, which he enriched with a series of strongly characterized works mainly of a gloomy, uncanny nature. He shows but little of the genial art with which Weber avails himself of the supernatural merely as a background for the doing and striving of his characters, and thus never compromises the human interest they have for us. Marschner makes it the salient characteristic of his strongest works. In these his principal _Dramatis Personæ_ are demons and evil spirits who tempt and torment the innocent and loving. His first romantic opera was _Der Vampyr_ (1825) composed to a text prepared from Byron’s poem, “Lord Ruthven,” which is founded upon a Scotch legend. Notwithstanding the repulsive nature of the subject, its powerful treatment brought it immediate success in Germany and a little later in England. It was followed by _Der Templar und die Jüdin_ (The Templar and the Jewess), a version of Scott’s “Ivanhoe.” This, however, met with less success than _Der Vampyr_ or its successor, _Hans Heiling_, Marschner’s masterpiece.