Believing himself to be a disciple of Mozart, and striving to preserve in his writings the suave beauty and sculpturesque repose of the Mozart style, Spohr was at heart a romanticist, was in the vanguard of the new romantic movement in Germany, and established in his compositions some of those peculiarities which have come to be regarded as special characteristics of romantic utterance. While, therefore, he created no school and, except in violin playing, has had no large following, he exercised over his younger contemporaries a discernible influence, which cannot be disregarded. That no one in our time looks to the works of Spohr for models, does not obliterate the fact that he was an influential factor in the development of that romantic school which has given us all that is greatest in music since the death of Beethoven. One critic has well said of him: "Spohr's noble sentimentality and warmth of expression excited during his lifetime all the youth of Germany into an unusual enthusiasm. The composer's influence is now somewhat less than it was, and indeed latterly his productions have been underrated, but as all that is genuine resists momentary bias, Spohr's works are once again coming to the fore. In history, Spohr stands as a most important link between the old and new romantic schools of German tonal art. As a tone-poet he possesses an individuality so strongly marked, and so important an idiosyncrasy, that he cannot like Marschner, Kreutzer, Reissiger, and others, be identified with the school of Weber, but stands almost independent between the last-named master and men like Mendelssohn and Schumann." [Illustration: Fac-simile of Introduction to Spohr's fourth Double Quartette in G minor. Original in possession of the Musical Library at Dresden.]