Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Born: 25 December 1745, Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe)
Died: 10 June 1799, Paris (France)

(this composer submitted by Bill Zick <wzickrc.net>)

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Contributions by: halleyjc | tdunoyer | wzick |

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Music

Saint-George was one of the most talented composers of African descent in the history of classical music, along with England’s Samuel Coleridge (1875–1912) and America’s William Grant Still (1895–1978).

In 1774, Saint-George’s father died, leaving him without an annuity. In order to support himself, he began publishing a great deal of music, much of which featured the violin. Among these works were two sets of string quartets (a genre rarely practiced in France at that early date), a dozen violin concertos, and at least ten symphonies concertantes.

Historians believe that scores of Saint-George’s music were destroyed during the re-institution of slavery in France early in the 19th century.

(Contribution by Tony Dunoyer <infochevalierdesaintgeorge.com>.)

Examples of records:

Le Mozart Noir by: Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Linda Melsted, Genevieve Gilardeau, Tafelmusik Orchestra
Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos by: Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Helmut Muller-Bruhl, Takako Nishizaki
Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries by: Chevalier Meude-Monpas, Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Jose White, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Daniel Hege, Rachel Barton, Encore Chamber Orchestra
Boulogne: Symphonies and Violin Concertos - CD 3 by: Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Miroslav Vilimec Avenira Fondation

(Contribution by <halleyjcyahoo.fr>.)

Biography

Biographers continue to present the public with new information on Joseph de Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The most recent book is “Joseph de Saint-George, Le Chevalier Noir” by the broadcast journalist Pierre Bardin, published in French by Guenegaud (2006). The latest major biography in English is “The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow” by Gabriel Banat, a violinist and author of books on Music, published by Pendragon Press (2006). Another important biography in French is “Le chevalier de Saint-George” by Claude Ribbe, published by Perrin (2004). Ribbe is a Professor of History in France and a native of Guadeloupe, where Saint-Georges was born. The late Swiss author Emil F. Smidak wrote a biography, published in both English and French by Avenira (1996), which is still worth reading today. The English version is “Joseph Boulogne called Chevalier de Saint-Georges”. The French title is “Joseph Boulogne nommé Chevalier de Saint-Georges”. The book is still available from the Avenira Foundation in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Saint-Georges page at my website, www.AfriClassical.com, includes information from all four biographies. I believe each author has made important contributions to our knowledge of the first major composer of African descent.

Many of the best-known Saint-Georges CDs are comprised of symphonies and violin concertos. I would like to mention some recortdings of string quartets by Saint-Georges which I find noteworthy. The Apollon Quartet has recorded six String Quartets from the composer’s Third Book of Quartets, Op. 14, on Avenira AV 276011 (2005). The Coleridge String Quartet has released a CD called “Chevalier de Saint-Georges: String Quartets (Quartetto Concertants”, AFKA Records SK-557 (2003). “Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Six Quatuors” is a collection of six string quartets on Arion 55425 (1998). The ensemble is the Jean-Noël Molard Quartet. The group Quatuor Joachim has recorded the String Quartet, Op. 14, No. 6 of Saint-Georges on the CD “Quatuors Concertants”, Koch Schwann 3-6411-2 H1 (1996). Other string quartets on the disc are by Giovanni Cambini, François Joseph Gossec and Hyacinthe Jadin.

A unique project has been undertaken by the Quatuor Antarès. It is a French quartet which aims to record all of the string quartets of Saint-Georges, along with contemporaneous string quartets of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The first three CDs in the series are “Saint-Georges/Mozart String Quartets”, Integral Classic, Vol. 1, A&A007 (2001); Vol. 2, 221.125 (2003); and Vol. 3, 221.148 (2005). I believe the Koch Schwann CD is the only one I have mentioned which may be difficult to locate.

(Contribution by Bill Zick <wzickameritech.net>.)

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George, was born on Christmas day, 1745, on the French-Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe. His mother was a young Senegalese slave of remarkable beauty. Joseph’s father, George de Bologne Saint-George, was a wealthy sugar plantation owner and a former "Gentleman in the King’s Chamber" in the court of Louis XVI, King of France.

Musically Saint-George may very well have been the “King of Pop” of his age; militarily he helped prevent what could have been the early collapse of the French Revolution. The vicissitudes of his journey are dramatic: from a young outsider in Paris to the dizzying heights of superstardom in pre-Revolutionary France, to an utterly tragic end. In his lifetime Saint George was an elite musketeer of the King’s Horse Guard; a master-swordsman and Europe’s fencing champion; a composer, violin impresario, and opera director that influenced Mozart; Queen Marie-Antoinette’s music teacher and confidant; a playboy whose inner circle included the author of Valmont; and a military hero who championed the French Revolution. That Saint-George was all of these in an age when slavery was endemic and white superiority was dogma, is beyond extraordinary and the height of irony.

Despite his Herculean accomplishments, Saint George — a man whose company was once fought over by royalty and great aristocrats — died alone, unmarried and destitute in 1799. The tragedy deepened: instead of being celebrated, in 1802 after the reinstitution of slavery in France by Napoleon, Saint-George’s music was banned, and many of his scores were destroyed. Yet, Saint-George lives. Like a Phoenix, two centuries later, the indomitable Chevalier has risen from the ashes as music lovers and historians have rediscovered him. In February 2002, the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe renamed a street in the memory of the Chevalier de Saint-George, restoring his stature to one of a legendary statesman.

(Contribution by Tony Dunoyer <infochevalierdesaintgeorge.com>.)

Joseph Boulogne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges was also called Joseph de Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-George. He was born on the French West Indies island of Guadeloupe on December 25, 1745. His father owned the plantation on which his mother was a slave. Incredibly, he reached the top of French society as France’s finest fencer, a fashionable and innovative composer, a virtuoso violinist and conductor of two of France’s finest orchestras. During the French Revolution, Saint-George was Colonel of 1,000 volunteers of color. In 1793, he saved the young French Republic from an attempt to restore the monarchy. He was a hero for only a few months before he was imprisoned on false charges of misappropriating public funds. He was acquitted a year later, but was not allowed to return to his former position. After a trip to Haiti, Saint-George took charge of another orchestra in France. He died in Paris on June 10, 1799.

(Contribution by Bill Zick <wzickameritech.net>.)