[Louis Spohr] insisted upon my giving a concert in Cassel, he himself undertaking all the arrangements, enrolling vocalists from the operatic troupe, actually two of the most celebrated singers of the time, the soprano, Mile. Heinefetter, and the tenor, Wild. The concert took place in the first days of September, and created much interest, musical prodigies (I was nine years old) being then not so plentiful as they have since become. Of the programme, or rather my part in it, I ought to feel ashamed, for, in accordance with the fashion of the hour, it consisted of variations by Henri Herz and by Ries, but also, I am glad to add, of a rondo by Hummel, which, I hope, was more to my taste. As an executive display by a child it was much commended in the papers, some of which are still in my possession, and Spohr himself was pleased, so much so that, when I met him again after a lapse of more than twenty years, he began at once to speak of this concert, which I thought long forgotten. << less