Louis Aguettant (3 April 1871 – 10 March 1931) was a French musicologist, writer and teacher of French literature.

Biography

Bachelor of letters in 1887 and of sciences in 1888, Bachelor of Arts in 1891, agrégé of the Sorbonne in 1895, musicologist, Louis Aguettant was professor of French literature at the Catholic Faculty of Lyon, a chair he kept until his death.

Music, poetry and literature

He was a professor-lecturer of European culture, an outstanding artist and pianist as witnessed by Ignacy Paderewski who took an interest in him and considered that he had the stuff of "a talent of the first order." Passionate about music he met

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

, Georges Martin Witkowski, maintained correspondence with

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

and

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, gave musicology lessons at the

Conservatoire de Lyon A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

and poetry, met Paul Claudel,

Francis Jammes Francis Jammes (; 2 December 1868, in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées – 1 November 1938, in Hasparren, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) was a French and European poet. He spent most of his life in his native region of Béarn and the Basque Country and his po ...

, Paul Valéry... For 33 years, he left an irreplaceable imprint on his students. His courses on Paul Verlaine and

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

still testify to his penetrating thought. In 1921, he married Marcelle Mouly who gave him three children: Jeanne, Louis and Robert. Attentive to the literature of his time, he corresponded with the greatest of his time: Jean Cocteau, Paul Claudel,

, André Gide, Louis Mercier, Max Jacob, Henry de Montherlant, Charles Péguy, Raymond Radiguet,

Albert Thibaudet Albert Thibaudet (1 April 1874 in Tournus, Saône-et-Loire – 16 April 1936 in Geneva) was a French essayist and literary critic. A former student of Henri Bergson, he was a professor of Jean Rousset. He taught at the University of Gene ...

, Paul Valéry and many others. Among his works a good number were published: ''Les Dialogues de Paul Valéry'', ''La Poésie de Paul Claudel'', ''Un fils de Virgile'' : Louis Mercier, Jean-Marc Bernard, Marcel Ormoy, Émile Mâle, ''Le Génie de Gabriel Fauré'', André Caplet, translation by Abt Vogler de Browning, etc. The publication of his book ''La musique de piano'', with a preface by Henri Rambaud was a powerful discovery, "a master book" for Bernard Gavoty,''La Musique de piano'' "A breviary" for

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

and also "A wonder" for Émile Vuillermoz. His finesse of analysis, his just judgment modeled on classicism, reflect his great sensitivity, knowing how to exalt poetic and musical beauty: "Artist to the depths of his being, in love with great painters, pianist of remarkable technique and personality in interpretation, he had an extraordinary faculty of emotion" (Mgr Lavallée). His luxurious correspondence and intimate notebooks are a treasure in which all lovers and students of literature can find the formulas and analyzes of a language as perfect as spontaneous. In November 2003, the Lyon municipal library received the correspondence, notebooks and manuscripts fund, which can be consulted. In particular, there are five volumes of ''Notes biographiques'' (1.418 pages).

Quote

« ''Un esprit de la plus grande rareté, car très rare sont ceux qui se développent comme lui sur les confins de la musique, des lettres et de l’abstrait'' » ( Paul Valéry''La musique de piano''). ("A spirit of the greatest rarity, for very rare are those who develop like him on the confines of music, letters and the abstract")

Works

*1901: ''Victor Hugo paysagiste'' *1920: '' Ernest Psichari'' *1923: ''Les Dialogues de Paul Valéry'' *1925: ''Le Génie de Gabriel Fauré'', *1934: ''Lettres de jeunesse'' *1954: ''La Musique de piano : des origines à Ravel'' *1957: ''Lecture de Baudelaire''

References

External links

Louis Aguettant
at L'Harmattan

on Cultura
Louis Aguettant
on chopin.nifc.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguettant, Louis 20th-century French poets 20th-century French musicologists 1871 births Writers from Lyon 1931 deaths