Young Spohr was placed under the tuition of Dufour, a French emigre of the days of ’91, who was an excellent player, though not a professional, then living at the town of Seesen, the home of the Spohr family; and under him the boy made very rapid progress.  It was Dufour who, by his enthusiastic representations, overcame the opposition of Ludwig’s parents to the boy’s devoting himself to a life of music, for the notion of the senior Spohr was that the name musician was synonymous with that of a tavern fiddler, who played for dancers.  In Germany, the land par excellence of music, there was a general contempt among the educated classes, during the latter years of the eighteenth century, for the musical profession.  Spohr remained under the care of Dufour until he was twelve years old, and devoted himself to his work with great sedulity.  Though he as yet knew but little of counterpoint and composition, his creative talent already began to assert itself, and he produced several 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 protege 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 regarded as worthy of accompanying his master on a grand concert tour through the principal cities of Germany and Russia.