Simon Leduc (1742-1777)
- Symphonie No.1 en ré majeur (published 1779)
Performers: Orchestra de Chambre de Versailles; Bernard Wahl (conductor)
Further info: Simon Leduc (1742-1777)
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French violinist, composer and publisher. Brother of the violinist
Pierre Leduc (1755-1826), he received lessons from Pierre Gaviniès
(1728-1800). He was a second violinist in the Concert Spirituel
orchestra in 1759 and made his début as soloist in 1763. In 1763 he was
one of the first violins in the Concert Spirituel orchestra, and he
continued to appear as an orchestral player and soloist until his death.
He earned consistently favourable reviews in the Parisian press and
received an understated compliment in Leopold Mozart's travel diary of
1763-4: ‘He plays well’. Despite his success, however, Leduc decided to
devote the greater part of his efforts to pursuits other than virtuoso
performance. He took great care in teaching his brother Pierre, whom he
apparently considered a greater violinist than himself. He composed
exceptionally fine orchestral and chamber music, publishing some of it
under a privilege granted on 17 March 1768, retroactive from 16 December
1767. (Simon never published any works but his own, the general
privilege of 1 September 1767 notwithstanding; it was Pierre who
undertook to develop a fully-fledged publishing business.). In 1773
Leduc assumed the directorship of the Concert Spirituel with Gaviniès
and Gossec, and soon earned the applause of the press for a noticeable
improvement in the quality of these concerts. He was clearly a
well-loved director; shortly after his death, the orchestra, trying to
prepare one of his symphonies for a forthcoming performance, was
collectively so overcome with grief that the rehearsal had to be
suspended. His friends paid tribute to his memory in a religious service
on 22 March 1777, at which Gossec's Messe des morts was performed.
Leduc's compositions, exclusively instrumental, compare favourably with
those of any other young composer of his time. The writing is skilful
and idiomatic, particularly for the violin; the harmonies are inventive,
expressive, and often unusually chromatic. Painstakingly notated
nuances, frequent dynamic contrasts and expressive harmonic progressions
contribute to a style which has been called a ‘French Storm and
Stress’.
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