Musical Mondays No. 3

Musical Mondays, produced by a musician for people who are always on the go.

August 7th, 2023

Greetings Victorians!

Welcome to Musical Mondays, where I, Somiah Nettles

Victorian Voices

, introduce you to a different classical composer on the first Monday of each month in an effort to, in the words of the Berkeley Piano Club, "cultivate and encourage the study, understanding, and appreciation of great music." Because we’ll be honoring one composer for a whole month, on the following Mondays, additional highlights from their lives and music will be made available via Notes.

This month, I'd like to introduce you to composer and violinist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, commonly known as ''Black Mozart,'' the most brilliant man of his day, who was born on December 25th, 1745, in Baillif, Basse-Terre, a French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe. Saint-Georges was the son of Anne Nanon, a Senegalese-born enslaved woman, and George Bologne, a French plantation owner.

A portrait of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges C. 1788 by Mather Brown.

When Saint-Georges was seven years old, his father decided that he wanted better for his son, so they left Guadeloupe and sailed to France, where he would be educated at a Jesuit boarding school with the best professors. When he was fifteen, Saint-Georges enrolled in the Royal Academy of Fencing and Horsemanship and quickly rose through the ranks, defeating every opponent who stood in his way. Saint-Georges was France's strongest fencer and is only known to have lost one duel.

In 1757, Saint-George’s father was appointed Gentleman of the King's Chamber, serving as King Louis XV's personal assistant, which contributed to Saint-George’s title. Saint-Georges was appointed to the king's guard at the age of 17 and granted the title ''Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges,'' which translates to ''The Knight.''

Saint-Georges began his professional career as a musician with Les Concerts Des Amateurs before the age of 20. He studied the violin with Leclair and composition with Gossec, who were both French baroque violinists and composers. From 1758 until 1768, he dedicated his time to learning and mastering both musical creativity and performance, which he rapidly mastered as he did fencing. Nobody knew Saint-Georges could play the violin until now. In 1769, Gossec appointed Saint-Georges as first violinist of the Concerts des Amateurs, the young composer's first professional position.

But it wasn't until 1772 that he rose to prominence as a soloist, performing his own Op. 2 violin concerti. This violin concerti shows remarkable virtuosity for the time, but the audience was most impressed by the emotion and expression Saint-Georges poured into his performances. During this period, he composed various sonatas, string quartets, seven Sinfonie Concertanti, a ballet (L'amant Anonime), and two operas (Ernestine and La fille-garçon). By 1773, Saint-Georges had established himself as a respected musician and took over Gossec's post as director of the Concerts des Amateurs. Yale's Glossary of Musical forms

‘‘Saint-Georges is noted as being able to use one excellent melodic line after another in a single work. His thematic ideas seemed endless and effortless, and sometimes he employs so many fine passages in a row that it almost seems wasteful. Apparently, however, he never had to concern himself with exhausting his wealth of musical creativity. He is remembered mainly for his quartets and violin concerti, but his operas were quite popular. His musical style was naturally suited to operatic and theatrical music…’’ (AllMusic). Biography: Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

In 1774, Saint-George’s father, George Bologne, passed away in his home in Guadalupe. George had left his son and his son’s mother Anne Nanon a healthy sum of money, but against his father’s wishes and according to French law, it was awarded to Saint-George’s sister, Georges legitimate daughter through marriage instead. With a broken heart for the only man who hadn't casted him aside and no money to his name, Saint-Georges would have to rely on his talents to get by, and luckily for him, he had plenty.

Unfortunately, Saint-George’s appointment as director of Concerts des Amateurs was withdrawn in 1776 after a number of renowned singers petitioned Queen Marie Antoinette, refusing to work with him because they did not want to follow orders from someone of mixed race. Even after his death, Saint-Georges was essentially obliterated from music history—though his adventure-filled biography was taken by the mid-nineteenth-century French novelist Roger de Beauvoir in a distorted retelling laced with fictitious embellishments.

Fun fact: In the summer of 1778, Saint-Georges and Mozart resided in the same house. Mozart created three well-known compositions during this period, possibly with the assistance of Saint-Georges who played his violin for him.

When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, the honorable Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, joined the newly established Republic and gathered a new military force in northern France. In 1791, he gave up music entirely to become the captain of the National Guard at Lille. Soon after, Saint-Georges was falsely accused of misappropriating funds intended for the troops, and he was deprived of command and imprisoned. Following his release after eighteen months, Saint-George parted with France and was dispatched to Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) after learning about the slave revolt, known today as the Haitian Revolution. He then returned to Paris in 1797 to resume his musical career, directing a new musical institution, Le Cercle de l'Harmonie. Saint-Georges died a pauper after two dreary years, having lost his fortune and life to the Revolution and unable to recover. He was 53 years old.

Despite the fact that there isn't much information on Saint-George's life and music, director Stephen Williams and screenplay writer Stefani Robinson dug deep to produce Chevalier (2022), a new film depicting the life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George. I saw the film in theaters when it first came out earlier this year, and it played a significant influence in my learning about Saint-George. This film means a lot to me as an African American musician who is used to hearing about primarily white classical performers. I strongly advise you to watch Chevalier this month because you’ll learn a lot and have fun while doing so.

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That’s all for now, Victorians. I hope you've fallen in love with Saint-George's tenacity and intellect, or at the very least learned something new! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and remember to subscribe so you never miss a beat.

PS, make sure to check Notes every Monday so you don’t miss out on any additional pieces on Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George! Stayed tuned.

Musical Mondays, produced by a musician for people who are always on the go, is brought to you by

Victorian Voices

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Photo by Akshar Dave🌻 on Unsplash