Festival International

de Musique

At a time when colonial slavery was the norm, Joseph Bologne was not only free but also an aristocrat, the illegitimate son of a wealthy White plantation owner, George Bologne, and a Guadeloupe enslaved woman of African descent, Nanon. Young Joseph received an exemplary education, attending Tessier de La Boëssière’s famed Académie royale polytechnique des armes et de ‘l’équitation and studying music. He was a true savant, a Jack of all trades and Master of them all. His exploits of swimming, horseback riding, dancing, shooting, boxing and especially fencing are well-documented. He became literally a Superman of his time.

Under the patronage of his father, young Joseph received an exemplary education, befitting members of the French nobility, attending Tessier de La Boëssière’s famed Académie royale polytechnique des armes et de ‘l’équitation. In addition to fencing and fencing, his studies included literature, science, horse riding, marksmanship and music. The young Joseph Bologne was tall, dark and handsome and with his charming demenor he was quickly found ingratiated by the French aristocracy.

In music, Saint-Georges was an exceptional student. It is believed that he studied the violin with the great French virtuosos, Jean-Marie Leclair and others. At the end of the 1760s, he became the recipient of a dedication by François-Joseph Gossec, the composer at the center of Parisian concert life. In 1769, Saint-Georges joined an orchestra called Le Concert des Amateurs, conducted by Gossec, as first violin, and in 1773, Saint-Georges became director of the group.

The status of Saint George in French society was ambivalent. Religious leaders agitate for the end of slavery, and King Louis XVI himself was opposed to the practice. But interracial marriages were prohibited (Saint George was never able to marry), and the belief in the genetic inferiority of Africans was widespread. Throughout his sporting and musical exploits, Saint-Georges became famous. The word even reached America and President John Adams proclaimed him "the most accomplished man in Europe." But there was always a hint of racial controversy surrounding his reputation. Saint-Georges had powerful donors who appreciated his talents, notably Queen Marie-Antoinette. But when he was considered for the prestigious post of director of the Paris Opera in 1775, two of the main sopranos of the company protested against the queen, claiming that "their honor and the delicacy of their conscience prevented them from being subjected to the orders of a mulatto. "

Nevertheless, Saint-Georges was a major star in Paris in the 1770s. In 1772, he had written several violin concertos for his own use as a performer; lyrical pieces of ambitious dimensions. He composed operas, symphonies, concert symphonies, concertos and innovative string quartets and these works influenced other composers of the time such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

One of the most famous characters in the French capital, Saint-Georges has had several nicknames. One was "The Black Mozart", or the Black Mozart; on concert posters advertising Mozart's and St. George's music, the two have often received the same rating. Another was Le Don Juan Noir, Don Juan noir, but it is not known if this part of Saint George's reputation was exaggerated. What was clear was that he aroused resentment in certain circles.

After the disbanding of the Concert des Amateurs, Saint-Georges founded a new group called the Concert de la Loge Olympique in 1781. He commissioned and conducted the first performances in 1787 of the six "Paris Symphonies" of Franz Joseph Haydn, widely considered the greatest composer in Europe at the time. As a composer he had much success with his opera The girl-boy also an opera for children, Aline et Dupré or Le Marchand des marrone.

In England, Saint-Georges became involved in the country's growing anti-slavery movement and founded a similar French group called the Society of Black Friends. Saint-Georges became the first French black mason, reaching the 33rd rank.

Much of the last decade of Saint-Georges' life was shaped by the French Revolution and its consequences. He sympathized with the democratic objectives of the revolution and, living in the city of Lille, he became captain of the national guard. However, his close ties to the fallen French court were also the object of suspicion among the revolutionary leaders. In the 1790s, Saint-Georges joined a group of black Frenchmen who hoped to form a new volunteer corps for combat. He became a colonel in the new force, and another measure of his fame was that he was popularly known as the Legion of Saint George.

Saint-Georges and his regiment saw heavy action, and Saint-Georges was responsible for the victory over the Austrians in Lille. He also played a key role in thwarting the so-called treason of Dumouriez, a plot by a renegade French officer, General Dumouriez, to take over the city and was hailed as a hero. One of the deputies of the black regiment of Saint-Georges, Alexandre Dumas (Sr.), and it is said that Alexandre Dumas (Jr., the author) based his famous character d'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers on Saint-Georges.

The last years of Saint George's life were not happy. He returned to the Caribbean for several years in the 1790s and was deeply disillusioned by the Black War on the island of Santo Domingo, when the slave rebellions broke out. Back in France, he became the director of a new orchestra called Le Cercle de l'Harmonie. Its fame was always such that the orchestra attracted large crowds. Saint George contracted a bladder infection and died on June 10, 1799. Slavery, which had been abolished in 1794, was re-imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte and fighting intensified in the Caribbean. Saint-Georges and its music have been removed from orchestral repertoires and mainly history books, so as not to be rediscovered for nearly 200 years.