Alexandre Joseph Artôt (25 January 1815 – 20 July 1845) was a Belgian violinist.

Life

He was born at Brussels into a musical family. His father was Maurice Artôt (1772–1829), first horn-player at the theatre in Brussels. His mother was Jeanne Catherine Borremans, from the musical family of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and Joseph Borremans. His father was born with the surname Montagny or Montaguey, but had adopted the professional name Artôt, which was preserved by all his children. Alexandre's older brother was the horn player , who later became the father of soprano

Désirée Artôt Désirée Artôt (; 21 July 1835 – 3 April 1907) was a Belgian soprano (initially a mezzo-soprano), who was famed in German and Italian opera and sang mainly in Germany. In 1868 she was engaged, briefly, to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who may h ...

. Alexandre received instruction in music and on the violin from his father, and at the age of seven played at the theatre a concerto of

Giovanni Battista Viotti Giovanni Battista Viotti (12 May 1755 – 3 March 1824) was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness. He was also a director of French and Italia ...

. He received further instruction from , principal first violin at the theatre, and afterwards at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

from Rodolphe and , and in 1827 and 1828 he obtained the second and first violin prizes respectively. According to Fétis, Artôt then played in concerts in Brussels and London with the greatest success, and became for a time player in the various Parisian orchestras. He became famous as a soloist, and made tours through Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany, etc. On 3 June 1839, the same occasion that the singer

Giovanni Matteo Mario Giovanni Matteo De Candia, also known as Mario (17 October 1810 – 11 December 1883), was an Italian opera singer. The most celebrated tenor of his era, he was lionized by audiences in Paris and London. He was the partner of the opera singer Giu ...

first appeared in England, Artôt played at the Philharmonic a fantasia of his own for violin and orchestra, and was well received, rather on account of the delicacy and feeling of his playing and his remarkable execution, than from his tone, which was very small. We do not find that he played at any other public concert, and this is borne out by a letter of 6 August the same year from

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

, wherein details are given concerning musical taste in London at the time, received from , who had just returned from there, and whose mutual conversation he reports at length: "I arrived too late, and it is the same with Artôt, who, despite his success at the Philharmonic, despite the incontestable beauty of his talent, has a tedious time of it." In 1843 he went to America, Cuba, etc., on a concert tour with Laure Cinti-Damoreau, and while there he received the first symptoms of a lung disease. He never recovered, but died July 20, 1845, at

Ville d'Avray Ville-d'Avray () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune is part of the arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt in the Hauts-de-Seine department. Demographics Transport Ville ...

near Paris. Upon his death, the '' Athenaeum'' noted, "He was, perhaps, the most finished and the most elegant of all the Rubini school of players; one of the handsomest men in our recollection; and much beloved, we are told, among his comrades for his gentleness and amiability."''Athenaeum'', August 2, 1845. As cited in

Compositions

Artôt's compositions for the violin include a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

in A minor, various fantasias and airs with variations with piano or orchestral accompaniment, and, in manuscript, string quartets, and a quintet for piano and strings.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Artot, Alexandre Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Musicians from Brussels 1815 births 1845 deaths Belgian male classical violinists 19th-century Belgian classical violinists 19th-century Belgian classical composers Belgian male classical composers Deaths from lung disease 19th-century Belgian male musicians