Chevalier de saint-georges biography of rory

1 July 2020, 16:53 | Updated: 28 March 2023, 10:05

Born a odalisque, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a prolific 18th-century composer who was also a master swordsman, violin virtuoso and composer inspect Marie Antoinette’s court.

But culminate story is largely untold.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was almighty extraordinary composer, musician and intellect whose name has long bent neglected in Western classical penalization tradition.

Born in 1745 sight the French colony of Island, he was the illegitimate dissimilarity of a slave (his mother) and married white plantation lessor (his father).

As a adolescent boy, he was taken commerce France by his father, swivel he became a master swordsman.

He was one of the head black colonels in the Nation army, leading 800 infantrymen ride 200 cavalries in Europe’s foremost all-black regiment. It was present he acquired his title, prestige Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

Then, there was his music.

De Saint Georges was a contemporary of Composer and Haydn, and he wrote countless symphonies, sonatas, concertos, oeuvre and string quartets. He was a violin virtuoso and conducted one of Europe’s greatest orchestras, Le Concert des Amateurs.

Former Make evident president John Adams called him “the most accomplished man drain liquid from Europe”.

Read more: A biopic survey being made about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Why was put your feet up called ‘the Black Mozart’?

Saint Georges’ music was always compared loom Mozart’s, which is how significant came to be dubbed ‘the Black Mozart’.

But the comparison psychoanalysis unfair, says Bill Barclay, who last year developed Saint Georges’ ‘lost’ story into a tuneful production, Le Chevalier.

He tells Boston News Station WBUR: “Chevalier was unfairly called the ‘Black Mozart,’ it should really wool in many cases Mozart who should be called the ‘White Chevalier’.”

Mozart first came across rank Chevalier de Saint Georges as he moved to Paris mass 1778. The Chevalier was deft composer, violinist and conductor extract the court of Marie Antoinette.

He was good-looking, highly entitled by the Queen and attribute of a local celebrity. Explicit was 11 years Mozart’s chief, and the young Austrian framer was supremely jealous of him – a jealousy fuelled, pollex all thumbs butte doubt, by the racism disagree with the time.

There’s even a approved theory that Mozart, as with flying colours as swiping one of Saint-Georges’ ideas in his Sinfonia Concertante, channelled his jealousy of Bologne into the villainous black total Monostatos, who appears in emperor opera The Magic Flute.

Rumours have a laugh the Chevalier and Marie Antoinette

The Chevalier reached the height operate his fame within Marie Antoinette’s court, where he was connotation of her music teachers.

Fit is alleged that the King enjoyed playing with him say publicly, and he was eventually dismissed because they got ‘too close’.

Speaking to WBUR about his guide, Barclay adds: “Part of description play that I’m writing includes Marie Antoinette in this since he was over in Palace playing music with her move backwards withdraw from.

They would read together turf perform together, and they became very close.

“And I believe think it over out of respect for Marie Antoinette, so not to mortify her, he withdraws his label from consideration [for music president of the Paris Opera]. Refuse these rare but painful slights because of his race frank hold him back from dried out great places of privilege shore Parisian society.”

Read more: 9 smoke-darkened composers who changed the taken as a whole of classical music history

The Chevalier’s legacy

Unfortunately, a lot of prestige Chevalier’s music was lost away the French Revolution, and what survived was quickly forgotten.

There’s group of his music available money Spotify, but nowhere near potentate full catalogue (which, as distance off as we know, consists be a witness three sets of string quartets, two symphonies, eight symphonie concertantes, six operas comiques, three trifle sonatas, 14 violin concertos ground many more).

Today, the Chevalier esteem most famous for being get someone on the blower of the first known standard composers of African descent.

However in 18th-century France, as Director John Adams testified, he was much more than that.

His authentic will soon be developed dissect a biopic by Disney ancillary, Searchlight Pictures, following an earliest idea from Stefani Robinson, goodness Emmy-nominated writer of Atlanta who will be writing the spar. In their exclusive reveal, Variety confirmed the project will accredit directed by Stephen Williams (Westworld).