Chevalier de Saint-Georges: EMS 7 January

[doversoul1]

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

[oddoneout]

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.

[underthecountertenor]

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.

[oddoneout]

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.

[kernelbogey]

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!

[doversoul1]

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.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04p4klq

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnxf/clips

[underthecountertenor]

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.

[Lat-Literal]

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.