A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Lübeck, Charles
LÜBECK, Charles H., conductor and violinist, born Feb. 11, 1799, at Alssen, near Dusseldorf; held the post of Kapellmeister at the Hague until his death, Feb. 11, 1866. His eldest son, Ernst Heinrich, a very distinguished pianist, was born 1829, and first appeared in public at 12 years of age, when he played Beethoven's E♭ Concerto. He made a tour to the United States, Mexico and Peru, which lasted from 1849 to 1852. On his return he was made Court pianist at the Hague. In 1855 he moved to Paris, where he principally resided until driven from the city by the disturbances of the Commune, which gave a shock to his brain from which it never recovered. He became at length hopelessly insane, and died Sept. 17, 1876. He wrote only for piano. Among his compositions are the following:—Berceuse in A♭, op. 13; Tarentelle; Polonaise, op. 14; 'Trilby the Sprite, Révérie caracteristique.' The two former were chosen by him for performance at the Philharmonic Concert May 7, 1860, when he also played Mendelssohn's Concerto in G minor. In the same year he first appeared at the Musical Union. His playing was distinguished for brilliancy and technique. Berlioz says of him: 'Son talent est tout à fait extraordinaire, non seulement par un mécanisme prodigieux, mais par un style musical excellent et irreprochable. C'est la verve unie à la raison, la force unie à la souplesse; c'est brillant, pénétrant, et élastique comme une lame d'épée.'
His brother, Louis, born 1832 at the Hague, was for some years teacher of the violoncello at the Leipzig Conservatorium, until about 1872, when he moved to Frankfort.