This Elegy was the first piece Neukomm recorded in his journal after returning from an idyllic five year residency in Rio de Janeiro in 1821. In it he commemorates the life and the death of the Duchess of Courlarde who had died earlier that year. Known to him through his close personal friend, Prince Talleyrand, she was the mother of Princess Dorothea who was reputedly Talleyrand's lover of many y...