Ancot, Louis
Biografie
Annelies Focquaert (translation: Jo Sneppe)
Louis Ancot received his first music lessons of violin and piano from his father Jean Ancot sr. No unequivocal information is to be found concerning the duration of this training: Fétis claims “from age five until his seventeenth year”, whereas more recent sources (Maertens, Roquet) record the time span between 1808 and 1812. After his educational years he went on concert tours as a pianist to France, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland and England. Some sources also report a stay in Paris. He landed in London, where he became pianist of the Duke of Sussex. Not incidentally so, since his elder brother Jean jr. was pianist of the Duchess of Kent (the mother of the future Queen Victoria), both those royal heads being brother and sister. Shortly afterwards Ancot settled as piano teacher, consecutively in Boulogne, where his brother was active at that time as well, and in Tours, where he stayed for a few years. Around 1825 he gave some concerts in Brussels together with his brother. After the revolution of 1830 he relocated to his native town Bruges. There he was piano teacher in the boarding school of the English convent sisters for a brief period, and died a premature death at the age of 33.
During his lifetime 47 works were published, in cities like Edinburgh, London and Paris. They include sonatas, fantasies, airs with variations, works for four-handed piano, fugues, studies, concertos, orchestral overtures and songs.
Bibliografie
Anderen over deze componist
- Corbet, A. en Paap, W.: Ancot, Louis, in: Algemene muziekencyclopedie, dl. 1, Antwerpen - Amsterdam, 1957, p. 167.
- De Schrijver, K.: Ancot, Louis, in: Bibliografie der Belgische toonkunstenaars sedert 1800, Leuven, 1958, p. 12.
- Fétis, F. J.: Ancot (Louis), in: Biographie universelle des musiciens, dl. 1, Brussel, 1873, p. 96.
- Gregoir, E.: Ancot (Louis), in: Galerie biographique des artistes-musiciens belges du XVIIIme et du XIXme siècle, Brussel, 1862, p. 8.
- Gregoir, E.: Ancot (Louis), in: Les artistes-musiciens belges au XVIIIme et au XIXme siècle, Brussel, 1885, p. 17.; 1887, p. 17; [Ancot frères] 1890: p. 15.
- Maertens, J.: Ancot, Louis, in: Lexicon van de muziek in West-Vlaanderen, dl. 4, 2003, p. 49.
- Roquet, F.: Ancot, Louis, in: Lexicon Vlaamse componisten geboren na 1800, Roeselare, 2007, p. 17.
- Thys, A.: Louis Ancot, in: Historique des Sociétés Chorales de Belgique, Gent, 1855, p. 165.
- Viotta, H.: Ancot, in: Lexicon der Toonkunst, dl. 1, Amsterdam, 1881, p. 79-80.