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 purchased from Beethoven the recently composed Heroic Symphony, and had had it performed in his palace at Vienna. He consulted with Wranitzky, his Kapellmeister, as to a programme for the entertainment of his guest. Wranitzky proposed 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 particulars of the meeting. Ries (Biog. Not. p. 11) only relates, that an old [1]Countess, at the supper after a musical entertainment, excluded Beethoven from the table set for the Prince and the nobility, at which the composer left the house in a rage. Some days later Louis Ferdinand gave a dinner, and the Countess and Beethoven being among the guests, had their places next the Prince on either hand, a mark of distinction of which the composer always spoke with pleasure. A pleasant token of their intercourse survives in the dedication to the Prince of the P.F. 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 manoeuvres, Spohr was invited to join them. 'I led,' says Spohr (Selbstbiog.), '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 in the morning and called in dressing-gown and slippers to the Prince's reception room, where he, often in shirt and drawers (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 hall was filled with officers in stars and orders, with which the costume of the musicians contrasted strangely enough. The Prince however never left off until everything had been studied to his satisfaction.' Louis Ferdinand's compositions, like his playing, were distinguished for boldness, splendour, and deep feeling; several of those which are 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 gladly 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:—
Op. 1 Quintet for P.F. and Strings, C. minor.
" 2. Trio for P.F., Violin, and Cello, A♭.
" 3. Do.,do.,E♭.
" 4. Andante, do.,B♭.
" 5. Quartet for P.F., Violin, Viola, and Cello. E♭.
" 6. Do.,do., F minor.
" 7. Fugue, 4 voix, for P.F. solo.
" 8. Nocturno for P.F., Flute, Violin, Cello obligati. and 2 Horns ad lib., F.
Op. 9. Rondo for P.F., 2 Violins, Flute, 2 Clarinets, 2 Horns, Viola, and Cello, B.
" 10. Trio for P.F., Violin, and Cello, E♭.
" 11. Larghetto, variations, P.F., with Violin, Viola, and Cello, oblig.
" 12. Octet for P.F., Clarinet, 2 Horns, 2 Violins, 2 Cellos.
" 13. Rondo for P. F.
Also a 2nd Quintet for P.F. and Strings.
LOULIÉ, Etienne, protégé of Mlle. de Guise, and music-master, in the second half of the 17th century, is only known as the author of 'Eléments ou Principes de Musique' (Paris 1696), at the close of which is an engraving and description of his 'Chronometre.' Loulié was the first to attempt to indicate the exact tempo of a piece of music by means of an instrument beating the time. The one he invented took the minute as the unit, and went up to 72 degrees of rapidity; but being six feet in height was too cumbrous for general use. Nevertheless to Loulié belongs the merit of the idea which more than a century later was carried into practice by Maelzel.
LOURE. This word, whether derived from the Latin lura, a bag or purse, or the Danish luur, a shepherd's flute, or merely an alteration of the Old French word outre with the article prefixed, l'outre—signified originally a kind of bagpipe, common in many parts of France, but especially in Normandy. The peasants of Lower Normandy still call the stomach 'la loure,' just as those of Normandy and Poitou call an 'outre' or leathern wine-bottle, 'une vèze.' Again, the Old French words 'chèvre,' 'chevrie,' 'chevrette,' were derived from cabreta in dog-latin, and 'gogue' meant an inflated bag or bladder. These circumstances seem to point to the conclusion that the names of all these instruments, 'chèvre,' 'chevrette,' 'gogue,' 'loure,' 'vèze,' 'saccomuse,' etc., refer to the wind-bag, ordinarily made of goat-skin; an argument strengthened by the English 'bagpipe' and the German 'Sackpfeife,' 'Balgpfeife,' 'Dudelsack,' etc.
From its primary signification—a kind of bagpipe inflated from the mouth—the word 'loure' came to mean an old dance, in slower rhythm than the gigue, generally in 6–4 time. As this was danced to the nasal tones of the 'loure,' the term 'louré' was gradually applied to any passage meant to be played in the style of the old bagpipe airs. Thus 'lourer' is to play legato with a slight emphasis on the first note of each group. The 'louré' style is chiefly met with in pastoral, rustic, and mountaineer music.
As an example we give the first strain of a Loure from Schubert's 'Die Tanzmusik.'
- ↑ Not the Countess Thun, as has been stated—she died long before.
