Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Encyclopedia
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (sometimes erroneously spelled Saint-Georges) (December 25, 1745 – June 10, 1799) was an important figures in the Paris
musical scene in the second half of the 18th century as composer, conductor, and violinist. Prior to the revolution in France, he was also famous as a swordsman
and equestrian
. Known as the "black
Mozart
" he was one of the earliest musicians of the European classical type known to have African ancestry.
to Nanon, a Wolof
former slave, and a white French
plantation
owner, Georges Bologne de Saint-George. Although his father called himself de Saint-George, after one of his properties, he was not born into the nobility
. Some biographers have mistaken him for Pierre Tavernier-Boulogne, Controller-General of Finances
, whose nobility dated back to the 15th century. The confusion surrounding the nobility of Saint-George's father originated with Roger de Beauvoir
’s novel of 1840 ("Le Chevalier de Saint-George"). However, Georges Bologne was not ennobled until 1757, when he acquired the title of Gentilhomme ordinaire de la chambre du roi
, and noble rank was hereditary only for children born in wedlock.
In 1747 George Bologne was falsely accused of murder and fled to France with Nanon and her child to prevent their being sold. After two years he was granted a royal pardon and the family returned to Guadeloupe. In 1753, George took Joseph, who was then eight, to France permanently where he was enrolled in a private academy
.
At the age of 13 Saint-George became a pupil of La Boëssière, a master of arms, and excelled in all physical exercises, especially fencing
. When still a student, Saint-George beat Alexandre Picard, a fencing-master of Rouen
, who had mocked him as ‘La Boëssière’s upstart mulatto’, and was rewarded by his father with a horse and buggy
. He also studied literature and horseback riding, and became an exceptional violinist.
On 5 April 1762, King Louis XV decreed that people of color (blacks (nègres) and mulattos) must register with the clerk of the Admiralty within two months. Saint-George's mother, Nanon, registered herself as age 34 at that time. On 10 May 1762, La Bossière registered Saint-George as "Joseph de Boulogne".
On graduating at the age of 19, he was made a Gendarme de la Garde du Roi (member of the royal guard). After the end of the Seven Years' War
, George Bologne returned to his Guadeloupe plantations, leaving his son in France with a handsome annuity. The young chevalier became the darling of fashionable society; contemporary accounts speak of his romantic conquests. In 1766 the Italian fencer Giuseppe Faldoni came to Paris to challenge Saint-George. Faldoni won, but proclaimed Saint-George the finest swordsman in Europe.
After 1764, works dedicated to him by Lolli
and Gossec
suggest that Gossec was his composition teacher and that Lolli taught him violin. Saint-George’s technical approach was similar to that of Gaviniés
, who may also have taught him. In 1769 he became a member of Gossec’s new orchestra, the Concert des Amateurs
, at the Hôtel de Soubise
, and was soon named its leader.
While still a young man, he acquired multiple reputations; as the best swordsman in France, as a violin virtuoso
, and as a composer
in the classical
tradition. He composed and conducted for the private orchestra and theatre of the Marquise de Montesson, morganatic
wife of the King's cousin, Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
. In 1771, he was appointed maestro
of the Concert des Amateurs, and later director of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the biggest orchestra of his time (65-70 musicians). This orchestra commissioned Joseph Haydn
to compose six symphonies (the "Paris Symphonies
" Nr. 82-87), which Saint-George conducted for their world premiere. In respect of his skill as both a composer and musician, he was selected for appointment as the director of the Royal Opera
of Louis XVI
. But this was prevented by three Parisian diva
s who petition
ed the Queen in writing against the appointment, insisting that it would be beneath their dignity and injurious to their professional reputations for them to sing on stage under the direction of "a mulatto
". To spare St. George public humiliation, the King decreed that henceforth the position of director could only be filled by promotion from within the ranks of the orchestra.
Thwarted in his musical career, Saint-George earned fresh renown as a competitive fencer. He had already been dubbed "chevalier
" by appreciative crowds at the Palais Royal
. There is a famous portrait of him crossing swords in an exhibition match with the French transvestite
spy-in-exile, the Chevalier d'Eon
, in the presence of the Prince of Wales
, Britain's future king George IV
.
Like many others associated with the aristocracy
and the royal court at Versailles
, Saint-George served in the army of the Revolution
against France's foreign enemies, although he is not known to have joined the domestic revolutionary struggle
prior to the imprisonment of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
. Nonetheless, Saint-George would pay dearly for consenting to become the first black colonel of the French army, in its fight for the Revolution. He took command of a regiment of a thousand free colored
volunteers, largely consisting of former slaves from the region of his birth. With these troops, he arrested General Miaczinski at Lille
, thwarting the betrayal of General Dumouriez
. Repeatedly denounced, however, because of his aristocratic parentage and past association with the royal court, Saint-George was dismissed from the army on September 25, 1793, accused of using public funds for personal gain. He was acquitted after spending 18 months in jail.
After the revolution, Saint-George continued to lead orchestras but, abandoned by his former patrons, his circumstances became straitened and his lifestyle bore little resemblance to that he enjoyed under the monarchy. Joseph de Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George died in 1799 at the age of 54. In the ensuing 200 years, he fell largely into obscurity.
's six "Paris symphonies." Marie-Antoinette had them performed several nights in a row, such that one of these symphonies, No. 85, was subtitled "The Queen," in her honor.
Mozart stayed in Paris in 1778 during the time of Saint-George's triumph.
Saint-George's second opera, La Chasse (The Hunt, now lost), first performed on October 12, 1778, was enthusiastically received by the audience and the press alike.
Saint-George owed his fame as much to his virtuosity as to his compositions. His concertos attracted crowds to the Hôtel de Soubise
(now the National Archives), and to performances by the Concert des Amateurs (eighty musicians), led by Saint-George. The composer's operas (including one for which the libretto was written by Choderlos de Laclos
) enjoyed undeniable popularity at the Italian Comedy. Saint-George's qualities as a conductor were such that his orchestras were considered to be among the best in Europe.
". He also wrote at least five operas with a possible sixth opera, Le droit de seigneur, disputed among music scholars. Excerpts from his first opera, Ernestine, were also used in an opera pastiche, Recueil d’airs et duos, along with music by other composers.
G 2 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 1 in C major
G 3 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 2 in E flat major
G 4 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 3 in G minor
G 5 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 4 in C minor
G 6 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 5 in G minor
G 7 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 6 in D major
G 10 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 in D major
G 11 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 2 in C major
G 21 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 10 in D major
G 22 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 11 in G major
G 23 \ Symphony Concertante in E flat major
G 24 \ Symphony Concertante in G major
G 25 \ Violin Concerto Op. 2 No. 1 in G major
G 26 \ Violin Concerto Op. 2 No. 2 in D major
G 27 \ Violin Concerto Op. 3 No. 1 in D major
G 28 \ Violin Concerto Op. 3 No. 2 in A minor
G 29 \ Violin Concerto Op. 4 in D major
G 31 \ Violin Concerto Op. 5 No. 1 in C major
G 32 \ Violin Concerto Op. 5 No. 2 in A major
G 37 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 6 No. 1 in C major
G 38 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 6 No. 2 in B flat major
G 39 \ Violin Concerto Op. 7 No. 1 in A major
G 40 \ Violin Concerto Op. 7 No. 2 in B flat major
G 49 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No. 2 in A major
G 50 \ Violin Concerto Op. 8 in G major
G 64 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No. 1 in F major
G 65 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No. 1 in C major
G 66 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No. 2 in A major
G 67 \ String Quartet No. 7 in B flat major
G 68 \ String Quartet No. 8 in G minor
G 69 \ String Quartet No. 9 in C major
G 70 \ String Quartet No. 10 in F major
G 71 \ String Quartet No. 11 in G major
G 72 \ String Quartet No. 12 in B flat major
G 73 \ Symphony Op. 11 No. 1 in G major
G 74 \ Symphony Op. 11 No. 2 in D major
G 75 \ L'amant anonyme
G 76 \ Sonata for keyboard & violin in B flat major
G 77 \ Sonata for keyboard & violin in A major
G 78 \ Sonata for keyboard & violin in G minor
G 79 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in D major
G 80 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in C major
G 81 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in B flat major
G 82 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 10 in F major
G 83 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in D major
G 84 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 8 in D major
G 85 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G minor
G 86 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in E flat major
G 87 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 9 in D major
G 88 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 11 in C major
G 89 \ Variations for keyboard & violin in G major
G 191 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 1 in D major
G 192 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 2 in B flat major
G 193 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 3 in F minor
G 194 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 4 in G major
G 195 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 5 in E flat major
G 196 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 6 in G minor
G 209 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 1 in B flat major
G 210 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 2 in E flat major
G 211 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 3 in A major
G 212 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 4
G 213 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 5
G 214 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 6
G 215 \ Violin Concerto Op. posth. 2 in D major
String Quartet No. 7 in B flat major - G 067
String Quartet No. 8 in G minor - G 068
String Quartet No. 9 in C major - G 069
String Quartet No.10 in F major - G 070
String Quartet No.11 in G major - G 071
String Quartet No.12 in B flat major - G 072
Coleridge String Quartet - String Quartet
Sonata for keyboard & violin in A major - G 077
Variations for keyboard & violin in G major - G 089
Sonata for keyboard & violin in B flat major - G 076
Sonata for keyboard & violin in G minor - G 078
Kantorow, Jean-Jacques - Violin
Haudebourg, Brigitte - Harpsichord
String Quartet Op. 14 No.6 in G minor - G 196
String Quartet Op. 14 No.1 in D major - G 191
String Quartet Op. 14 No.3 in F minor - G 193
String Quartet Op. 14 No.4 in G major - G 194
String Quartet Op. 14 No.2 in B flat major - G 192
String Quartet Op. 14 No.5 in E flat major - G 195
Quatuor Atlantis - String Quartet
Symphony Op. 11 No.2 in D major - G 074
Violin Concerto Op. 3 No.1 in D major - G 027
Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 in D major - G 010
Violin Concerto Op. 2 No.2 in D major - G 026
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
Violin Concerto Op. 8 in G major - G 050
Violin Concerto Op. 4 in D major - G 029
Violin Concerto Op. 2 No.1 in G major - G 025
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No.2 in A major - G 066
Violin Concerto Op. 5 No.1 in C major - G 031
Symphony Concertante in E flat major - G 023
Violin Concerto Op. 7 No.2 in B flat major - G 040
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No.1 in F major - G 064
Violin Concerto Op. 5 No.2 in A major - G 032
Symphony Concertante in G major - G 024
Violin Concerto Op. 1 No.10 in D major - G 021
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No.1 in C major - G 065
Violin Concerto Op. 3 No.2 in A minor - G 028
Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No.2 in A major - G 049
Violin Concerto Op. 1 No.11 in G major - G 022
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
Harpsichord Sonata No.11 in C major - G 088
Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G minor - G 085
Harpsichord Sonata No. 9 in D major - G 087
Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in D major - G 079
Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in B flat major - G 081
Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in C major - G 080
Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in E flat major - G 086
Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in D major - G 083
Harpsichord Sonata No. 8 in D major - G 084
Harpsichord Sonata No.10 in F major - G 082
Robert, Anne - Harpsichord
Symphony Op. 11 No.1 in G major - G 073
L'amant anonyme - G 075
Violin Concerto Op. 3 No.1 in D major - G 027
with works by Leclair and Gossec
Tafelmusik
Lamon, Jeanne - Conductor
Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Mueller-Bruehl;
Takako Nishizaki, violin
Toronto Camerata, Kevin Mallon;
Qian Zhou, violin
} Fameuxchevalier.net
} Chevalierdesaintgeorge.com,
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
musical scene in the second half of the 18th century as composer, conductor, and violinist. Prior to the revolution in France, he was also famous as a swordsman
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
and equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
. Known as the "black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
" he was one of the earliest musicians of the European classical type known to have African ancestry.
Youth
Joseph Bologne was born in GuadeloupeGuadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
to Nanon, a Wolof
Wolof people
The Wolof are an ethnic group found in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania.In Senegal, the Wolof form an ethnic plurality with about 43.3% of the population are Wolofs...
former slave, and a white French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
owner, Georges Bologne de Saint-George. Although his father called himself de Saint-George, after one of his properties, he was not born into the nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
. Some biographers have mistaken him for Pierre Tavernier-Boulogne, Controller-General of Finances
Controller-General of Finances
The Controller-General of Finances was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. The position replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances , which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet.- History :The term "contrôleur général" in...
, whose nobility dated back to the 15th century. The confusion surrounding the nobility of Saint-George's father originated with Roger de Beauvoir
Roger de Beauvoir
Roger de Beauvoir was the pen name of French Romantic novelist and playwright Eugène Auguste Roger de Bully . His wit, good-looks and adventurous lifestyle made him well-known in Paris, where he was a friend of Alexandre Dumas, père...
’s novel of 1840 ("Le Chevalier de Saint-George"). However, Georges Bologne was not ennobled until 1757, when he acquired the title of Gentilhomme ordinaire de la chambre du roi
Gentleman of the Bedchamber
A Gentleman of the Bedchamber was the holder of an important office in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Description and functions:...
, and noble rank was hereditary only for children born in wedlock.
In 1747 George Bologne was falsely accused of murder and fled to France with Nanon and her child to prevent their being sold. After two years he was granted a royal pardon and the family returned to Guadeloupe. In 1753, George took Joseph, who was then eight, to France permanently where he was enrolled in a private academy
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
.
At the age of 13 Saint-George became a pupil of La Boëssière, a master of arms, and excelled in all physical exercises, especially fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
. When still a student, Saint-George beat Alexandre Picard, a fencing-master of Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, who had mocked him as ‘La Boëssière’s upstart mulatto’, and was rewarded by his father with a horse and buggy
Horse and buggy
A horse and buggy or horse and carriage refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses...
. He also studied literature and horseback riding, and became an exceptional violinist.
On 5 April 1762, King Louis XV decreed that people of color (blacks (nègres) and mulattos) must register with the clerk of the Admiralty within two months. Saint-George's mother, Nanon, registered herself as age 34 at that time. On 10 May 1762, La Bossière registered Saint-George as "Joseph de Boulogne".
On graduating at the age of 19, he was made a Gendarme de la Garde du Roi (member of the royal guard). After the end of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, George Bologne returned to his Guadeloupe plantations, leaving his son in France with a handsome annuity. The young chevalier became the darling of fashionable society; contemporary accounts speak of his romantic conquests. In 1766 the Italian fencer Giuseppe Faldoni came to Paris to challenge Saint-George. Faldoni won, but proclaimed Saint-George the finest swordsman in Europe.
Career
He studied music in Saint-Domingue with the black violinist Joseph Platon before emigrating to Paris in 1752. Platon would later play an unspecified Saint-George violin concerto at Port-au-Prince (Haiti) on April 25, 1780.After 1764, works dedicated to him by Lolli
Antonio Lolli
Antonio Lolli was an Italian violinist and composer.- Life :Lolli, who was born ca. 1725 in Bergamo, Italy, was one of the foremost Italian violinists of the 18th century...
and Gossec
François Joseph Gossec
François-Joseph Gossec was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works.-Life and work:...
suggest that Gossec was his composition teacher and that Lolli taught him violin. Saint-George’s technical approach was similar to that of Gaviniés
Pierre Gaviniès
Gavini, son of a violin maker, was one of the most significant of the French school of violin in the eighteenth century. At the age of thirteen, he was already noticed alongside Joseph-Barnabé Saint-Sevin said the Rev. Son in a duo of Jean-Marie Leclair the Spiritual Concert...
, who may also have taught him. In 1769 he became a member of Gossec’s new orchestra, the Concert des Amateurs
François Joseph Gossec
François-Joseph Gossec was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works.-Life and work:...
, at the Hôtel de Soubise
Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris....
, and was soon named its leader.
While still a young man, he acquired multiple reputations; as the best swordsman in France, as a violin virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
, and as a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
in the classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
tradition. He composed and conducted for the private orchestra and theatre of the Marquise de Montesson, morganatic
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
wife of the King's cousin, Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros , was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of...
. In 1771, he was appointed maestro
Maestro
Maestro is a title of extreme respect given to a master musician. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera. This is associated with the ubiquitous use of Italian vocabulary for classical music terms...
of the Concert des Amateurs, and later director of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the biggest orchestra of his time (65-70 musicians). This orchestra commissioned Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
to compose six symphonies (the "Paris Symphonies
Paris symphonies
The Paris Symphonies are a group of six symphonies written by Joseph Haydn and performed at the Concert Spirituel, the Concert de la Loge Olympique and the Concert de Amateurs in Paris.-The Symphonies:...
" Nr. 82-87), which Saint-George conducted for their world premiere. In respect of his skill as both a composer and musician, he was selected for appointment as the director of the Royal Opera
L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles
The Opéra Royal de Versailles ' is the main theatre and opera house of the Palace of Versailles. Designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, with interior decoration by Augustin Pajou, the Opéra was constructed entirely of wood and painted to resemble marble in a technique known as faux marble.The house is...
of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
. But this was prevented by three Parisian diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
s who petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
ed the Queen in writing against the appointment, insisting that it would be beneath their dignity and injurious to their professional reputations for them to sing on stage under the direction of "a mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
". To spare St. George public humiliation, the King decreed that henceforth the position of director could only be filled by promotion from within the ranks of the orchestra.
Thwarted in his musical career, Saint-George earned fresh renown as a competitive fencer. He had already been dubbed "chevalier
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
" by appreciative crowds at the Palais Royal
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
. There is a famous portrait of him crossing swords in an exhibition match with the French transvestite
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
spy-in-exile, the Chevalier d'Eon
Chevalier d'Eon
Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont , usually known as the Chevalier d'Éon, was a French diplomat, spy, soldier and Freemason whose first 49 years were spent as a man, and whose last 33 years were spent as a woman...
, in the presence of the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, Britain's future king George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
.
Like many others associated with the aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
and the royal court at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, Saint-George served in the army of the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
against France's foreign enemies, although he is not known to have joined the domestic revolutionary struggle
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
prior to the imprisonment of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
. Nonetheless, Saint-George would pay dearly for consenting to become the first black colonel of the French army, in its fight for the Revolution. He took command of a regiment of a thousand free colored
Free people of color
A free person of color in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, is a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved...
volunteers, largely consisting of former slaves from the region of his birth. With these troops, he arrested General Miaczinski at Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, thwarting the betrayal of General Dumouriez
Charles François Dumouriez
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon.-Early life:Dumouriez...
. Repeatedly denounced, however, because of his aristocratic parentage and past association with the royal court, Saint-George was dismissed from the army on September 25, 1793, accused of using public funds for personal gain. He was acquitted after spending 18 months in jail.
After the revolution, Saint-George continued to lead orchestras but, abandoned by his former patrons, his circumstances became straitened and his lifestyle bore little resemblance to that he enjoyed under the monarchy. Joseph de Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George died in 1799 at the age of 54. In the ensuing 200 years, he fell largely into obscurity.
Music
In 1787, Saint-George conducted the premières of Joseph HaydnJoseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's six "Paris symphonies." Marie-Antoinette had them performed several nights in a row, such that one of these symphonies, No. 85, was subtitled "The Queen," in her honor.
Mozart stayed in Paris in 1778 during the time of Saint-George's triumph.
Saint-George's second opera, La Chasse (The Hunt, now lost), first performed on October 12, 1778, was enthusiastically received by the audience and the press alike.
Saint-George owed his fame as much to his virtuosity as to his compositions. His concertos attracted crowds to the Hôtel de Soubise
Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris....
(now the National Archives), and to performances by the Concert des Amateurs (eighty musicians), led by Saint-George. The composer's operas (including one for which the libretto was written by Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ....
) enjoyed undeniable popularity at the Italian Comedy. Saint-George's qualities as a conductor were such that his orchestras were considered to be among the best in Europe.
Selected works
Saint-George wrote symphonies, roughly 25 concertos for violin and orchestra, string quartets, sonatas, and songs in the style of Mozart, Haydn and the composers of the "Mannheim schoolMannheim school
Mannheim school refers to both the orchestral techniques pioneered by the court orchestra of Mannheim in the latter half of the 18th century as well as the group of composers who wrote such music for the orchestra of Mannheim and others.-History:...
". He also wrote at least five operas with a possible sixth opera, Le droit de seigneur, disputed among music scholars. Excerpts from his first opera, Ernestine, were also used in an opera pastiche, Recueil d’airs et duos, along with music by other composers.
G 2 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 1 in C major
G 3 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 2 in E flat major
G 4 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 3 in G minor
G 5 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 4 in C minor
G 6 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 5 in G minor
G 7 \ String Quartet Op. 1 No. 6 in D major
G 10 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 in D major
G 11 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 2 in C major
G 21 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 10 in D major
G 22 \ Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 11 in G major
G 23 \ Symphony Concertante in E flat major
G 24 \ Symphony Concertante in G major
G 25 \ Violin Concerto Op. 2 No. 1 in G major
G 26 \ Violin Concerto Op. 2 No. 2 in D major
G 27 \ Violin Concerto Op. 3 No. 1 in D major
G 28 \ Violin Concerto Op. 3 No. 2 in A minor
G 29 \ Violin Concerto Op. 4 in D major
G 31 \ Violin Concerto Op. 5 No. 1 in C major
G 32 \ Violin Concerto Op. 5 No. 2 in A major
G 37 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 6 No. 1 in C major
G 38 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 6 No. 2 in B flat major
G 39 \ Violin Concerto Op. 7 No. 1 in A major
G 40 \ Violin Concerto Op. 7 No. 2 in B flat major
G 49 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No. 2 in A major
G 50 \ Violin Concerto Op. 8 in G major
G 64 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No. 1 in F major
G 65 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No. 1 in C major
G 66 \ Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No. 2 in A major
G 67 \ String Quartet No. 7 in B flat major
G 68 \ String Quartet No. 8 in G minor
G 69 \ String Quartet No. 9 in C major
G 70 \ String Quartet No. 10 in F major
G 71 \ String Quartet No. 11 in G major
G 72 \ String Quartet No. 12 in B flat major
G 73 \ Symphony Op. 11 No. 1 in G major
G 74 \ Symphony Op. 11 No. 2 in D major
G 75 \ L'amant anonyme
G 76 \ Sonata for keyboard & violin in B flat major
G 77 \ Sonata for keyboard & violin in A major
G 78 \ Sonata for keyboard & violin in G minor
G 79 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in D major
G 80 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in C major
G 81 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in B flat major
G 82 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 10 in F major
G 83 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in D major
G 84 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 8 in D major
G 85 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G minor
G 86 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in E flat major
G 87 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 9 in D major
G 88 \ Harpsichord Sonata No. 11 in C major
G 89 \ Variations for keyboard & violin in G major
G 191 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 1 in D major
G 192 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 2 in B flat major
G 193 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 3 in F minor
G 194 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 4 in G major
G 195 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 5 in E flat major
G 196 \ String Quartet Op. 14 No. 6 in G minor
G 209 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 1 in B flat major
G 210 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 2 in E flat major
G 211 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 3 in A major
G 212 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 4
G 213 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 5
G 214 \ Violin Sonata Op. posth. 1 No. 6
G 215 \ Violin Concerto Op. posth. 2 in D major
Operas
- Ernestine (1777)
- La partie de la chasse (1778)
- La fille-garçon (1787)
- Aline et Dupré (1788)
- Guillaume tout coeur (1790)
Selected discography
- AFKA 557 - Quartetto Concertans 1777
String Quartet No. 7 in B flat major - G 067
String Quartet No. 8 in G minor - G 068
String Quartet No. 9 in C major - G 069
String Quartet No.10 in F major - G 070
String Quartet No.11 in G major - G 071
String Quartet No.12 in B flat major - G 072
Coleridge String Quartet - String Quartet
- Arion 55445 - Sonates pour violon
Sonata for keyboard & violin in A major - G 077
Variations for keyboard & violin in G major - G 089
Sonata for keyboard & violin in B flat major - G 076
Sonata for keyboard & violin in G minor - G 078
Kantorow, Jean-Jacques - Violin
Haudebourg, Brigitte - Harpsichord
- Assai 222622 - Six quatuors à cordes Op. 14
String Quartet Op. 14 No.6 in G minor - G 196
String Quartet Op. 14 No.1 in D major - G 191
String Quartet Op. 14 No.3 in F minor - G 193
String Quartet Op. 14 No.4 in G major - G 194
String Quartet Op. 14 No.2 in B flat major - G 192
String Quartet Op. 14 No.5 in E flat major - G 195
Quatuor Atlantis - String Quartet
- Avenira 9985 - Symphonies & Violin Concertos vol 1
Symphony Op. 11 No.2 in D major - G 074
Violin Concerto Op. 3 No.1 in D major - G 027
Violin Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 in D major - G 010
Violin Concerto Op. 2 No.2 in D major - G 026
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
- Avenira 9986 - Symphonies & Violin Concertos vol 2
Violin Concerto Op. 8 in G major - G 050
Violin Concerto Op. 4 in D major - G 029
Violin Concerto Op. 2 No.1 in G major - G 025
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
- Avenira 9987 - Symphonies & Violin Concertos vol 3
Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No.2 in A major - G 066
Violin Concerto Op. 5 No.1 in C major - G 031
Symphony Concertante in E flat major - G 023
Violin Concerto Op. 7 No.2 in B flat major - G 040
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
- Avenira 9988 - Symphonies & Violin Concertos vol 4
Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No.1 in F major - G 064
Violin Concerto Op. 5 No.2 in A major - G 032
Symphony Concertante in G major - G 024
Violin Concerto Op. 1 No.10 in D major - G 021
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
- Avenira 9989 - Symphonies & Violin Concertos vol 5
Symphony Concertante Op. 9 No.1 in C major - G 065
Violin Concerto Op. 3 No.2 in A minor - G 028
Symphony Concertante Op. 10 No.2 in A major - G 049
Violin Concerto Op. 1 No.11 in G major - G 022
Vilimec, Miroslav - Violin
Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen
- BNL 112934 - Les 10 Sonates pour clavecin
Harpsichord Sonata No.11 in C major - G 088
Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G minor - G 085
Harpsichord Sonata No. 9 in D major - G 087
Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in D major - G 079
Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in B flat major - G 081
Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in C major - G 080
Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in E flat major - G 086
Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in D major - G 083
Harpsichord Sonata No. 8 in D major - G 084
Harpsichord Sonata No.10 in F major - G 082
Robert, Anne - Harpsichord
- CBC 5225 - Le Mozart Noir
Symphony Op. 11 No.1 in G major - G 073
L'amant anonyme - G 075
Violin Concerto Op. 3 No.1 in D major - G 027
with works by Leclair and Gossec
Tafelmusik
Lamon, Jeanne - Conductor
- Naxos 8.555040 - Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos Op. 5, Nos. 1-2 and Op. 8
Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Helmut Mueller-Bruehl;
Takako Nishizaki, violin
- Naxos 8.557322 - Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos No. 1, Op. 3 and Nos. 2 and 10
Toronto Camerata, Kevin Mallon;
Qian Zhou, violin
External links
- Joseph Boulogne - Chevalier de Saint-George, 1745 - 1799
- Le Mozart Noir Film: Reviving a Legend
- Life and list of works
} Fameuxchevalier.net
} Chevalierdesaintgeorge.com,