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 years.
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Diese Elegie war das erste Werk, das Neukomm nach seiner Rückkehr von einem idyllischen fünfjährigen Aufenthalt in Rio De Janeiro im Jahre 1821 in sein Tagebuch verzeichnete. Darin erinnert er an das Leben und den Tod der Herzogin von Kurland, die zu Beginn des Jahres gestorben war.
Die Herzogin, Mutter von Prinzessin Dorothea, die angeblich viele Jahre lang Talleyrands Geliebte war, war ihm durch seinen engen Freund Fürst Talleyrand bekannt.
