Ernest Legouvé

Legouvé was a lifelong close friend of Berlioz’s, and helped him out financially; Berlioz set a poem of his to music. Scribe collaborated on the two plays for which he is best known. Süe was another close friend; his confidence lost, Legouvé suggested he act like Goethe and write about his disillusionment (he also famously demonstrated how two completely unrelated men could share the same sister, using himself and Süe as illustration). Among composers, Gounod was another of his close friends, while Liszt famously played Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ at Legouvé’s, with the lamps all turned out.