Louis Lacombe

He began touring Western Europe after leaving the Conservatoire, and in 1834 studied composition in Vienna with Carl Czerny as well as theory with Ignaz von Seyfried and Simon Sechter.

In Paris, Lacombe initially established himself as a virtuoso pianist, increasingly dedicating himself to composition and music criticism (his essays were partly reprinted in a posthumous collection, Philosophie et musique, 1896).

He wrote a number of dramatic symphonies with soloist and choir, and his cantata, Sapho, was performed at the Paris Exposition Universelle (1878).

La Madone was a modern composition with musical continuity through each act, elaborate orchestration, and only a small amount of spoken dialogue.

Though it is conservative in form, the orchestration and harmonic style are rich (...) Stirring homorhythmic choruses make Winkelried a fine vehicle for Swiss patriotic sentiment".