DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

LOUIS FERDINAND
rank ; energetic and enterprising, and as a
soldier bold to temerity. In con\-ersation he
was brilliant, in social intercourse deliglitrul.
On the iionit of morals his reputation \ras not
good ; but one who knew him well, while admitting
that, being prevented by his rank from
making a marriage of affection, 'he chose female
friends with whom he lived in the most intimate
relations,' asserts positively that 'he never
seduced an innocent giil, m- 'destroyed the peace
of a happy marriage.' This, in the time of
Frederick William II., was high praise. He was
passionately fondofhis two illegitimate children,
and left them to the care of his sister, Princess
Eadzi^^ill. That he very early entered the army
was a matter of course, for no other career was
open to a Prussian prince ; but that, amid all
the distractions of a military life, no small part
of which (1792-1806) was spent in hard service,
he should have become a sound practical musician
and composer proves his energy and perseverance
no less than his talent ; but music
was his passion, and in garrison or camp he had
musicians i;-ith him and kept up his practice.
He preferred English pianofortes, of which he is
said to have purchased no fewer than thirteen.
\Ve lind no account of his masters and early
studies, nor any but vague notices of his rapid
progress, until 1793. He was then with his
regiment at Frankfort, and is reported to have
aided a poor nmsician not only with his purse,
but by a very fine pierformance of a sonata in a
concert. Three years later, in 1796, Beethoven,
then in Berlin, formed that opinion of his playing
wdiich he afterwards expressed to Kies {Biog.
Not. p. 110), that, though the playing of Himmel
—then among the most renowned of pianists
—was elegant and pleasing, it was not to be
compared to that of the Prince. Piles also {lb.)
records Beethoven's compliment to him— that
he did not play at all like a king or a prince,
but like a thorough, solid pianist. [See the
article on Dussek for an account of his relations
with that great musician.] In 1804 he made a
journey to Italy. In Bohemia he visited Prince
Lobkowitz at his seat, Raudnitz. "We see no
sufficient reason to doubt the truth of an anecdote
the scene of which lay then and there.
Lobkowitz had i)urchased from Beethoven the
recently composed Heroic Symphony, and had
had it performed in his palace at Vienna. He
consulted with "Wranitzky, his capellmeister, as
to a programme for the entertainment of his
guest. Wranitzky pirojiosed the new symphony.
Louis Ferdinand listened with the utmost
Interest, and at the close of the performance
requested a repetition, which was of course
granted. After supper, having to depart early
the next morning, he besought the favour of a
third performance, which was also granted.
It was under the fresh impression of this
music that Louis Ferdinand renewed his acquaintance
with Beethoven. "We have no ]iar-
LOULIE 773
ticulars of the meeting. Ries {Biog. Not. p. 11)
only relates that an old Countess,' at the supper
after a musical entertainment, excluded Beethoven
from the table set for the Prince and tlie
nobility, at which the composer left the house m
a rage. Some days later Louis Ferdinand gave a
dinner, and the Countess and Beethoven being
amongtlie guests, had their jilaces next the Prince
on citlier hand, a mark of distinction of wdiich
the composer always spoke with jileasure. A
])leasant token of their intercourse survives in
the dedication to the Prince of the PF. Concerto
in C minor, which was first played in July
1804, and published in November.
In the autumn of the next year (1805), the
Prince being at Magdeburg on occasion of the
military manceuvres, Spohr was invited to join
them. 'I led,' says Spohr {Sclhstbiug.), 'a
strange, wild, stirring life, which for a short time
thoroughly suited my youthful tastes. Dussek
and I were often dragged from our beds at six
iiKtlie ni^'uing and called in dressing-gown and
slippers to the Prince's reception-room, where he,
olten in shirt and diawers (owing to the extreme
heat), was already at the pianoforte. The study
and rehearsal of the music selected for the
evening often continued so long, that the ball
was filled with officers in stars and orders,
with which the costume of the musicians contrasted
strangely enougli. The Prince, however,
never left olf until everything had been studied to
his satisfaction.' Louis Ferdinand's composi-
tions, like his playing, were distinguishecl for
boldness, splendour, and deep feeling ; several
of those which arc in print were composed before
the intercourse with Dussek had ripened his
taste, and made him more fully master of his
ideas. These he would gladlj' have suppressed.
The Pianoforte Quartet in F minor is considered
to be his most perfect work.
Ledebur's list of the published compositions
(made 1861) is as follows :—
, Tiio
. An-linte,
, Qnart.'t
nti-t for PF. and Strings,
c
PF., Viulin. and
violnn^elln, .\b.
fur PF.. Viulin. and
Violnncellu, Eb.
ami Tariationa. for
PF, Viola, and Violoncello,
Bt>.
for PF., Violin,
Viot.a, and \-inlonuono, Eb.
Quartet for PF., Violin, Viola,
and Violoneello, F minor.
Fiiffue, 4 parts, for PF. .solo.
Nottnrno for PF., Flnte.
Violin, Violoncello obMig.ati,
and 2 Horns, id lib., F,
Romio for PP.. 2 Violins,
Flnte. 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns,
Viola, and Violoncello, B.
10. Trio for PF Violin, ,
and
5i [The same
ffixed in tile
Y/c,
the
tet 01.. 12.]
11. Largl
ariations, PF,
with ^"iolin, Viola, and
Violoncello, obhlig.
12. Octet for PF., Clarinet. 2
Horns. 2 Violins, 2 Violoncellos.
i;t. Eondo for PF.
Also a 2nd Quintet for PF. and
Strings.
A fourth trio, without opus
number.
A rondo for PF. and Oj-ch.
March for Trumpet, 2 Oboes and
Baasu.
A. W. T.
LOUISE. Musical Romance in four acts ;
text and music by Gustave Charpentier. Produccil
at the Opera Comique, Paris, Feb. 2, 1900.
LOULIE, Etienke, protege of Mile, de Guise,
and music-master, in the second half of the 17th
century, is only known as the author of EUments
ou rriiH-ipcs de Musique (Paris, 1696), at the
1 Xot the Countess Thun, .as has been stated— she died long before.