Ludwig August Lebrun (1752-1790) - Flötenkonzert d-moll Nr.1
Performers: Ricards Bröhl (flute); Rheinisches Kammerorchester Köln; Jan Corazolla (1931-1998, conductor)
Further info: Lebrun/Mozart/Schwindl/Fischer: Flute Concertos
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Oboist and composer. He was the son of Alexander Lebrun, an oboist from
Brussels who played in the Mannheim orchestra. He seems to have studied
the oboe with his father and played in the Mannheim orchestra as a boy,
becoming a court musician at the age of 15. He retained that position
for the remainder of his life in spite of almost continual absence on
concert tours. In 1778 he married the singer Franziska Danzi. The couple
performed in many European cities including London (1778) and Paris
(1779), where the Mercure de France noted ‘a soft, velvety quality, a
sweetness which one can hardly believe possible’ in his playing. During a
later stay in London, the oboist W.T. Parke complained that ‘he
occasionally played out of tune’. By the mid-1780s the couple's salaries
were at the top of the Mannheim scale (3000 gulden), but they had to
return much of this to compensate the other court musicians for their
absence. Their international success reached a highpoint in Berlin in
1789. On a return visit in autumn 1790, Ludwig fell ill from
inflammation of the liver and exhaustion, and he died in December;
Franziska died only five months later. Lebrun appears to have been above
the jealousy and rivalry normal in his profession. Regarding a joint
performance with Carlo Besozzi, Forkel's Musikalischer Almanach (1782)
announced that the two ‘fought like giants. Neither “lost”.’ Schubart
stated that Lebrun ‘attained the maximum in perfection on the oboe’
(Deutsche chronik, ii, 1775, no.52, p.411. Among Lebrun's compositions
the most important are his oboe concertos, which were doubtless intended
for his own performance. The extant works fall into two groups, the
first consisting of seven published by Sieber (Paris). These are in the
mature Mannheim Classical style and were published in both for oboe and
flute versions, with orchestra consisting of strings only (plus horns in
no.2). They have an infectious charm and elegance of style which
captured contemporary admiration. A second group published by André
(Offenbach), perhaps as late as 1804, represents a substantial change of
style. These were unquestionably conceived for oboe (though they were
also published in versions for flute) and call for larger resources. Two
are in minor keys, and a more dramatic mood prevails, foreshadowing
early Romantic style.
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