Lübeck, Ernst

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Lübeck, Ernst

Lübeck, Ernst, Dutch pianist and composer, son of Johann Heinrich Lübeck and brother of Louis Lübeck; b. The Hague, Aug. 24,1829; d. Paris, Sept. 17,1876. He was trained as a pianist by his father, and as a youth made a voyage to America, playing concerts in the U.S., Mexico, and Peru (1849–54). He then settled in Paris, where he acquired the reputation of a virtuoso; Berlioz wrote enthusiastically about his playing. He became mentally unbalanced following the events of the Paris Commune of 1871. He wrote some pleasing salon pieces for Piano, among them Berceuse, Tarentelle, Polonaise, Trilby the Sprite, and Rêverie caractéristique.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire