Background
He was born in Vienna, son of Ferdinand Philipp Joseph, 6th Prince Lobkowicz (1724–1784) and Maria Gabriella di Savoia-Carignano (1748–1828).
He was born in Vienna, son of Ferdinand Philipp Joseph, 6th Prince Lobkowicz (1724–1784) and Maria Gabriella di Savoia-Carignano (1748–1828).
He is known particularly for his interest in music and as a patron of Ludwig van Beethoven. In 1786 Emperor Joseph II made him Duke of Raudnitz (now Roudnice nad Labem in the Czechoslovakian Republic). The prince was an amateur musician, playing violin and cello, and sang with a bass voice.
Countess Lulu Thürheim, sister-in-law of Prince Razumowsky, said of him: "This Prince was as kindhearted as a child and the most foolish music enthusiast.
He played music from dusk to dawn and spent a fortune on musicians. Innumerable musicians gathered in his house, whom he treated regally."
He had a private orchestra at his palace in Vienna, the Palais Lobkowitz.
In the hall of the palace, this orchestra performed in 1804 Beethoven"s Symphony Number. 3 (which was dedicated to the Prince) before the first public performance.
In 1808 Beethoven was offered the post of Kapellmeister at Cassel, where Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, had his court.
Prince Lobkowitz, together with Archduke Rudolph and Prince Kinsky, successfully persuaded Beethoven to stay in Vienna by offering a yearly pension of 4,000 florins. In 1811 Prince Lobkowitz, in financial difficulty, discontinued paying his share. However, he eventually resumed payment, which continued past his death in 1816 until Beethoven"s own death in 1827.
Beethoven dedicated several works to the Prince: his third, fifth and sixth symphonies.
His String Quartets Operation 18 and String Quartet Operation
74. The Triple Concerto and the song cycle An die ferne Geliebte.
lieutenant was intended to be sung by the young Princes on their father"s birthday in 1816. However, the prince was seriously ill at that time, and died a few days later.
He died 1816 in Wittingau (now Třeboň in the Czechoslovakian Republic), and was buried in Roudnice nad Labem.