DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

LEBERT LEBRUN 659
of Tone, etc. [In some modern treatises the
melodic fallof asemitone to the key-note. is called
a ' downward leading note.'] c. H. H. P.
LEBERT, SiGMUND (real name Levy), the
virtual founder of the Stuttgart Conservatorium,
was born at Ludwigsburg, in Wiirtemberg, Dec.
12, 1822, and got his musical education from
Tomaschek and D. "Weber at Prague. He settled
in Munich as a pianoforte teacher for some
years before 1856, where with Faisst, Stark,
and others, he started the music school. He
was a very accomplished and successful teacher,
though the merit of his system—the percussive
one, which often leads to thumping— may
be questioned. [The Grosse Pianoforte Schule
which he edited with Stark, was published by
the house of Cotta, and afterwards revised by
Max Pauer (1904) ; the famous edition of Beethoven's
sonata, issued by the same firm, was
begun by these editors and continued by Hans
von BiUow. Lebert died at Stuttgart, Dec. 8,
1884.] G.
LEBHAFT, i.e. lively, the German equivalent
for Vivace. Beethoven uses it, during his temporary
preference ibr German terms, in the pianoforte
sonata op. 101, where we find the two
directions ' Etwas lebhaft' etc. ' and Lebhaft,
marschmcissig, ' which is exactly equivalent to
'Vivace k la marcia.' Schumann uses it con-
stantly ;
' Ausserst lebhaft ' is Vivacissimo. G.
LE BORNE, Feenand, born March 10,
1862, is of Belgian origin, but ranks as a French
composer, having been a pupil of Massenet,
Saint-Saens, and Cesar Franck, so that he has
passed under varied influences. He has brought
Scenes
drama-
out the following works for orchestra :— '
dc Ballet,' 'Suite intime,' ' Symphonic
tique,' 'Aquarelles,' 'Temps de Guerre ' (Con-
certs de I'Opera, 1896), 'Fete Bretonne,' 'Marche
' Ouverture guerriere,' ' Ouverture
solennelle, '
symphonique,' and a ' symphonie-concerto '
for
piano, violin, and orchestra. His chamber
music includes a string quartet, a trio, and a
violin sonata. A mass in A, and some motets,
represent his work for the Church, and numer-
' ous songs ( ' L'Amour de Myrto, ' L'Amour trahi,
that it was taking a liberty and pandering to
human weakness to sliar;ien it ; and the clear etc. ), pianoforte pieces, etc. have become popular.
realisation of those principles of tonality upon Le Borne's dramatic works are as follows
which modern music is based was considerably
retarded thereby, so that works both vocal and
instrumental are characterised by a vagueness
of key-relationship, which the use of the leading
note alone can remove, till far on into the 17th
century ; by the time of Bach and Handel,
however, the ancient scales had been fused into
the major and minor modes of the modern
system, and the leading note assumed the office
it has ever since occupied. The gradual realisation
of the importance of the leading note and
the influence it had upon the development of
modern music is traced in the article Harmony,
and reference may also be made to chap. xiv. of
the Third Part of Helmholtz's The Seiisations
:
' Daphnis et Chloe,' a pastoral drama (Brussels,
May 10, 1885); 'Hedda,' symphonic legend
in three acts (Milan, 1898) ; 'Mudarra,' lyric
drama in four acts (Berlin, April 18, 1899); incidental
music for G. Mitchell's ' L'Absent
(Odeon, 1903) ;
' Les Girondins,' lyric drama in
four acts (Lyons, March 26, 1905). Another
three-act opera, ' Le Maitre,' has not yet been
performed. In 1901 Le Borne obtained the
Chartier prize of the Institut, for his chamber
music. He contributes musical criticisms to the
Monde artiste. G. r.
LEBRUN, Feancesca, the daughter of Danzi
the violoncellist, was born at Mannheim in 1756.
Endowed by nature with a voice remarkable
alike for its purity and extent, ranging as high
as f" without difficulty, she improved her
natural advantages by careful study, and became
one of the best singers that Germany has p)roduced.
She made her first appearance (1771)
when scarcely sixteen years old, and charmed
the court ; in the next year she was engaged at
the Mannheim Opera. Fetis says that in 1775
she became the wife of Lebrun the oboist, whom
she accompanied to Italy, singing first at Milan
(1778) in Salieri's ' Europa riconosciuta.' The
Milanese were deliglited with her clear and
beautiful voice and easy vocalisation, in spite of
the intrigues of La Balducci, the prima donna
of La Scala, who endeavoured to set them against
her young rival. This account must, however,
be corrected ; for, whereas Fetis says that she
only came to England in 1781, there is no
doubt that she was here five years earlier, then
unmarried, arriving with Koncaglia, with whom
she sang in Sacchini's ' Creso.' It is clear that
she did not marry Lebrun until after 1777.
She reappieared in London as Mme. Lebrun in
1779, being again the prima, do^ma for serious
opera, and continued with Pacchierotti to sing
in London for two or three seasons.
She sang in 1785 at Munich, after which she
returned to Italy, achieving the same brilliant
success at A'^enice and Napilcs as elsewhere. In
1788 and 1789 she appeared at Munich in
Mozart's 'Idomeneo,' Prati's ' Armida,' and the
' Castor and Pollux ' of Vogler. She started for
Berlin in Dec. 1790 to fulfil an engagement, but
on her arrival lost her husband, and herself died
May 14, 1791.
Mme. Lebrun, besides being a great singer,
was an accomplished piianist, and pmblished at
Oft'enbach (17S3) some sonatas with violin accompaniment,
and some trios for piano, violin,
and violoncello, which contain pretty melodies,
and are written with facility.
Of her twodaughters, theelder, Sophie, better
known as Mme. Dulcken,' was born in London,
June 20, 1781, and became celebrated as a
1 Not to be confounded with the later artiat of that name.