In musical circles, Mikhail Antsaw is known as the author of pieces for choir, teacher, music critic, choral conductor.
The future composer was born in 1865 (according to some sources in 1869) in Smolensk. From an early age, he showed extraordinary musical abilities. In 1886 he entered the Warsaw Institute of Music, continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, was a student of the famous M. Rimsky-Korsakov. After graduating in 1894, M. Antsaw taught singing at St. Petersburg Elizabethan Institute for the nobility.
In 1896 he moved to Vitebsk, where he worked as a teacher of music disciplines in various educational institutions of the city, including a men's gymnasium. He became one of the initiators of the opening (1918) of the Vitebsk People's Conservatory (now the Vitebsk State College of Music named after I. Sollertinsky), where he was a member of the administration, headed the office, lectured on the history and theory of music.
In addition to teaching, he was actively engaged in social activities. From 1905 to 1912 he edited the newspaper "Vitebsk Provincial Gazette" and the addition to it "Narodny Listok", published articles about the musical life of the city, reviews of works by domestic and foreign composers. He was directly involved in the activities of the Vitebsk Scientific Archive Commission (VSAC), the main tasks of which were the study, popularization and protection of historical and cultural monuments of the region. He was a full member of the commission, was engaged in local history studies. He prepared an interesting publication about a local history excursion organized by the VSAK to the town of Beshankovichy (1911).
Bio-bibliographic materials about Mikhail Antsaw are available in the electronic edition of the National Library of Belarus "Activities of the Vitebsk Scientific Archive Commission (1909-1919): Documents and Materials" (Minsk, 2017). Further biographical information about him can be found in the factual database “Belarus in Persons and Events” and the National Database of Authority / Regulatory Records.
Work as a composer played a significant role in the artistic life of M. Antsaw. The most famous works of the choral genre are “To the 100th Anniversary of A. Pushkin", "In memory of the 100th Anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812", "Willow", "Lotus", "Spring", "In memory of Heroes", "Song of the Fight". The composer also wrote instrumental music (for violin and piano), romances to the verses by Russian poets (A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, F.Tyutchev, V. Zhukovsky, A. Fet, etc.) imbued with subtle lyricism. He also made adaptations of Belarusian folk songs: "A w polі viarba", "Kuma Maja, Kumachka", "Go-go-go, kaza", "Luchyna-luchynachka", etc. He wrote a number of works based to the pieces by Belarusian poets (Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, M. Charot, J. Zhurba). Most of his composing heritage was lost.
M. Antsaw is also known as the author of textbooks on the theory of music and choral singing: “Brief information for the members of a choir”, “Preparation course of the elementary theory of music in connection with the teaching of choral singing” (1897), “Musical notation terminology. A Reference Dictionary for Regents, Teachers and Musicians”(1904). After the formation of the BSSR, he actively contributed to the compilation of the national musical repertoire. In 1930, a unique methodological manual for kindergartens and elementary grades of secondary schools "Zajchyk-grajchyk" was published. In it, the composer built a whole system of ear training for children based on Belarusian folk sayings, ditties, fairy tales and short songs. A continuation of the textbook was "Music Chrestomathy of Choir Singing", which, unfortunately, didn't come out. The repressions that began against the figures of Belarusian culture forced M. Antsaw to move to Moscow. There he stayed until the end of his life (1945), continuing to engage in musical art.
All the works of the composer kept in the collections of the National Library of Belarus can be found through the E-catalogue.
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