Ludwig August Lebrun

Ludwig August Lebrun (2 May 1752 in Mannheim – 16 December 1790 in Berlin) was a German oboist and composer.

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 the Prince-Elector Carl Theodor in Mannheim. 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 probably Belgian origin, worked from 1747 at the Mannheim court. He was a contemporary of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, and belonged to the Mannheim school.

In the summer 1778 he married the soprano Franziska Danzi, the sister of Franz Danzi, one of the most outstanding and well-known singers of the time. With her he travelled extensively across Europe: Milan, Paris, London, Vienna, Prague, Naples, Munich and Berlin. The couple's playing and singing complemented each other perfectly and arias with "obbligato" oboe were written for them, as for instance those in "Günther von Schwarzburg" (1777) by Ignaz Holzbauer, "L'Europa riconosciuta" (1778) by Antonio Salieri and "Castore e Polluce" (1787) by Georg 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