Louis Aguettant

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, Georges Martin Witkowski, maintained correspondence with Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, gave musicology and poetry lessons at the Conservatoire de Lyon, met Paul Claudel, Francis Jammes and Paul Valéry, and taught courses on Paul Verlaine and Charles Baudelaire for 33 years. 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 many influential authors of his time: Jean Cocteau, Paul Claudel, Gabriel Fauré, André Gide, Louis Mercier, Max Jacob, Henry de Montherlant, Charles Péguy, Raymond Radiguet, Albert Thibaudet, Paul Valéry and many others. Among his works many 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, "A breviary" for Alfred Cortot and also "A wonder" for Émile Vuillermoz. Mgr Lavallée remarked of him: "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". In November 2003, the Lyon municipal library received the correspondence, notebooks and manuscripts fund, which can be consulted by researchers. In particular, there are five volumes of Notes biographiques (1.418 pages).