Chevalier de Saint-Georges: EMS 7 January

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  • doversoul1
    Ex Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 7132

    Chevalier de Saint-Georges: EMS 7 January

    Fiona Talkington looks at the life and music of Joseph de Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) - the son of a French plantation owner and his slave mistress - who became a virtuoso violinist and composer, close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette, and was known in 18th-century Paris as "The Black Mozart".
    (R)
    Fiona Talkington explores the life and music of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de St-Georges.
  • oddoneout
    Full Member
    • Nov 2015
    • 9188

    #2
    I listened to this and couldn't help thinking it would make a good subject for a costume drama-doc type thing which could introduce a bit of proper music to the masses without them noticing, and tick some useful boxes....(slaves being the biggy?)
    If(a big if I realise) done well it could also be inviting to those of us who aren't scared of a bit of culture and history.

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    • underthecountertenor
      Full Member
      • Apr 2011
      • 1584

      #3
      Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
      I listened to this and couldn't help thinking it would make a good subject for a costume drama-doc type thing which could introduce a bit of proper music to the masses without them noticing, and tick some useful boxes....(slaves being the biggy?)
      If(a big if I realise) done well it could also be inviting to those of us who aren't scared of a bit of culture and history.
      I dread to think what would happen if Lucy Worsley were let loose on it.

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      • oddoneout
        Full Member
        • Nov 2015
        • 9188

        #4
        Originally posted by underthecountertenor View Post
        I dread to think what would happen if Lucy Worsley were let loose on it.
        Well she wouldn't be able to play principal boy so to speak. But yes the French court would be irresistible, if that were the preferred format, hence my caveat re: being done well.

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        • kernelbogey
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 5745

          #5
          I first heard of the Chevalier on the wonderful Through the Night. I haven't yet heard this programme, so thanks, DS, for flagging it. He sounds a wonderful figure, and his music isn't bad either!

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          • doversoul1
            Ex Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 7132

            #6
            Originally posted by kernelbogey View Post
            I first heard of the Chevalier on the wonderful Through the Night. I haven't yet heard this programme, so thanks, DS, for flagging it. He sounds a wonderful figure, and his music isn't bad either!
            He was a Composer of the Week but there is no reference to when it was broadcast and don't be excited, as Listen Now is just a show.
            Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.


            There should be a clip of this programme if you have patience enough to go through.

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            • underthecountertenor
              Full Member
              • Apr 2011
              • 1584

              #7
              Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
              Well she wouldn't be able to play principal boy so to speak. But yes the French court would be irresistible, if that were the preferred format, hence my caveat re: being done well.
              My concern, based on previous experience, is that her inability would not stop her trying.

              Comment

              • Lat-Literal
                Guest
                • Aug 2015
                • 6983

                #8
                Originally posted by doversoul1 View Post
                Fiona Talkington looks at the life and music of Joseph de Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) - the son of a French plantation owner and his slave mistress - who became a virtuoso violinist and composer, close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette, and was known in 18th-century Paris as "The Black Mozart".
                (R)
                http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801l4g
                Thank you. Given his ancestry, an important figure about whom more is likely to be made. Most of the recordings of his work have been made since the 1970s and he is increasingly getting airplay. There was an R4 documentary on his life entitled "In Search of the Black Mozart" in 2015. And he tends to feature in most lists by black people of black composers although generally with a gap of a century between him and the next. That is slightly unfortunate. While it is in line with Wikipedia which says : "Today the Chevalier de Saint-Georges is best remembered as the first classical composer of African ancestry", Ignatius Sancho predates him. There is also some overlap with José Mauricio Nunes Garcia and George Bridgetower and - at least in terms of lifespan - the American Frank Johnson. Earlier still was John Blanke - "the blacke trumpeter" of Henry VIII - but I am not aware that he ever composed music.

                I have an angle on this which isn't as brittle as modern accents on diversity. It also applies to early women composers, a range of people who were in early radio and film, and much else. Many of these people were really quite extraordinary. In some cases, fate might have given them some privilege but they were pioneers and, as such, culturally very attractive.
                Last edited by Lat-Literal; 08-01-18, 17:10.

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