- Ludwig August Lebrun
Ludwig August Lebrun (
2 May 1752 inMannheim –16 December 1790 inBerlin ) was a Germanoboist andcomposer .Life
The well-known and celebrated
oboe virtuoso (a contemporary described being "charmed by his divine oboe"), played with the orchestra at the court of thePrince-Elector Carl Theodor inMannheim . He started playing with the orchestra at the age of 12 and became a full member at the age of 15. His father, also an oboist of probablyBelgian origin, worked from 1747 at the Mannheim court. He was a contemporary ofCarl Stamitz andAnton Stamitz , and belonged to theMannheim school .In the summer 1778 he married the
soprano Franziska Danzi, the sister ofFranz Danzi , one of the most outstanding and well-known singers of the time. With her he travelled extensively acrossEurope :Milan ,Paris ,London ,Vienna ,Prague ,Naples ,Munich andBerlin . The couple's playing and singing complemented each other perfectly andaria s with "obbligato "oboe were written for them, as for instance those in "Günther von Schwarzburg" (1777) byIgnaz Holzbauer , "L'Europa riconosciuta " (1778) byAntonio Salieri and "Castore e Polluce" (1787) byGeorg Joseph Vogler .The music historian
Charles Burney wrote about appearances of the pair: "Franziska Danzi and the excellent oboist Lebrun usually travel together, and it seems as though she has listened to nothing other than his instrument, for when they perform together in thirds and sixths one cannot hear which is the upper or the lower voice!"He died at the age of 38.
Works
*Ballet "Armida" and "Adèle de Ponthieu"
*Concertos for Oboe and Orchestra No.1 in D minor, No.2 in G minor, No.3 in C major, No.4 in B-flat major, No.5 in C major, No.6 in F major
*Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in B-flat major
*Duos for Violin and Viola
*Flute duets
*Flute trios
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.