Note 72 — Chapter XII · ADOLF SPIESS, THE FATHER OF GERMAN SCHOOL GYMNASTICS.

The father of Spiess had begun to play the organ for church services at the age of nine, and in his school at Offenbach paid particular attention to instruction in singing. Adolf himself learned to play the violin and the pianoforte, and his strong boyish voice developed into a beautiful tenor. He was made an honorary member of the Swiss Musikverein in 1838, sang solo parts from the oratorios of Spohr and Neuhaus in the presence of the composers at a musical festival in Lucerne, and the tenor solos in Mendelssohn’s “St. Paul” at Zurich, and took the title role in Handel’s “Samson” at the national musical festival in Basel in the summer of 1840. It was at his suggestion that Max Schneckenburger wrote “Die Wacht am Rhein” that same year, and when it was read to a little company gathered in the Burgdorf “Stadthaus” Spiess was the first to sing it, to an accompaniment which he improvised on the pianoforte.