the accession of Charles II., and the Corporation of Musicians was revived. The date of his death is unknown; he was living in 1665, but dead in Jan. 1670, when Capt. Cooke's name appears as Marshal of the Corporation. He composed a funeral hymn on Charles I., a pastoral upon the birth of Prince Charles, and New Year's Songs for 1663 and 1665. Songs and other pieces by him are contained in 'Select Musicall Ayres and Dialogues,' 1653 and 1659; 'The Musical Companion,' 1667; 'The Treasury of Musick,' 1669; and 'Choice Ayres and Songs,' book iv, 1685. Several songs and dialogues by him are in the British Museum, Add. MSS. 11,608. Vandyck painted Laniere's portrait for Charles I. Another portrait is in the Music School at Oxford, to which it was presented by Laniere himself. The Laniere family was very numerous, and several of its members were court musicians in the 17th century.
[ W. H. H. ]
LANNER, Joseph, born at Vienna, April 12, 1801; son of a glove-maker; early showed a talent for music, taught himself the violin, and by means of theoretical books learned to compose. Next came the desire to conduct an orchestra; and in the meantime he got together a quartet party, in which the viola was taken by Strauss, his subsequent rival. They played potpourris from favourite operas, marches, etc., arranged by Lanner. He next composed waltzes and Ländler, first for a small, then for a full orchestra, and performed them in public. His popularity increased rapidly, and important places of amusement eagerly competed for his services. He also appeared in most of the provincial capitals, but declined all invitations abroad. He conducted the dance music in the large and small Redoutensaal, and also that at the court balls, alternately with Strauss. As a mark of distinction he was appointed Capellmeisterof the 2nd Bürger-regiment. When thus at the height of prosperity he died, April 14, 1843; and was buried in the churchyard of Döbling, near Vienna. A memorial tablet was placed on the house in which he was born, May 15, 1879.[1]
Lanner may be considered the founder of our present dance-music. His galops, quadrilles, polkas, and marches, but especially his waltzes and Ländler, bear traces of the frank, genial disposition which made him so beloved. All his works, from op. 1. ('Neue Wiener Ländler') to his swan-song ('Die Schönbrunner') are penetrated with the warm national life of Vienna. The titles often contain allusions to contemporaneous events and customs, and thus have an historical interest. His printed works amount to 208, and he left others unpublished. The following numbers are dedicated to crowned heads, and distinguished persons—op. 74, 81, 85, 91, 101, 110–12, 115–16, 120, 128, 131–32, 138 ('Victoria-Walzer' dedicated to Queen Victoria), 143, 146, 155, 161–62. The 'Troubadour-Walzer,' op. 197, are dedicated to Donizetti, and the 'Norwegische Arabesken,' op. 145, to Ole Bull. Diabelli published op. 1–15; Haslinger 16–32, and 170–208; Mechetti 33–169.
Of Lanner's three children, August, born 1834 in Vienna, a young man of great promise, followed his father's profession, but died Sept. 27, 1855. Katharina, born in Vienna 1831, is a well-known dancer, who since her début at the court opera in Vienna in 1845, has appeared at all the important theatres in Europe. She has also written several admired ballets, and in 1858 formed a children's ballet in Hamburg, which gave 46 performances in Paris with great success. At a later date she was engaged also at the Italian Opera in England.
[ C. F. P. ]
LAPORTE, Pierre François, an eminent French comedian, came to London as a member and joint manager of a company who, in January 1824, commenced performing French plays at the theatre in Tottenham Street. On Nov. 18, 1826, he appeared on the English stage, as a member of the Drury Lane company, as Sosia in Dryden's 'Amphitryon,' and afterwards played a variety of parts, mostly original, and amongst them Wormwood in 'The Lottery Ticket.' He next joined the Haymarket company, in which he first appeared June 15, 1827. In 1828 he became manager of the King's Theatre, and continued such until 1831. In 1832 he was lessee of Covent Garden Theatre, and actor as well as manager, but was compelled to retire, with heavy loss, before the end of the season. In 1833 he resumed the management of the King's Theatre, and retained it until his death, which occurred at his chateau near Paris, Sept. 25, 1841. A notable feature of his last season was the 'Tamburini Row,' a disturbance of the performance occasioned by the admirers of Tamburini, who resented his non-engagement for that season, and by their tumultuous proceedings for two or three evenings forced the manager to yield to their wishes. Another curious feature of this year was the re-appearance of Laporte in his original capacity as an actor, with Rachel, on three nights of her first London season. Laporte first introduced to the English public, amongst other operas, Rossini's 'Comte Ory' and 'Assedio di Corinto'; Bellini's 'Pirata,' 'Sonnambula,' 'Norma' and 'Puritani'; Donizetti's 'Anna Bolena,' and Costa's 'Malek Adel': and amongst singers, Sontag, Meric Lalande, Persiani, Assandri, Albertazzi, Pisaroni, Donzelli, David jun., Ivanoff, Mario; and, above all, the famous quartet who so long held supremacy on the opera stage, Grisi, Rubini, Tamburini, and Lablache. Though his dilatory and unbusinesslike habits ruined his management, Laporte was not without good qualities. Amongst others his tact and coolness were great, and many of his bons mots were current at the time. When Cerito returned the ticket of a box on the upper tier with the remark that she was much too young to be exalted to the skies before her time, Laporte—having already given a box on the same tier to Taglioni—replied that he 'had done his best, but that perhaps he had been wrong in placing her on the same level with Mdlle. Taglioni.'
- ↑ Owing to a curious error in the entry of his baptism, his name was for long overlooked in the register.
