{"id":23709,"date":"2023-04-25T17:19:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=227838"},"modified":"2023-04-27T09:12:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T07:12:52","slug":"chevalier-de-saint-georges-how-the-mixed-race-musical-maestro-joseph-bologne-became-a-star-in-18th-century-france","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/chevalier-de-saint-georges-how-the-mixed-race-musical-maestro-joseph-bologne-became-a-star-in-18th-century-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Chevalier de Saint-Georges: how the mixed-race musical maestro Joseph Bologne became a star in 18th-century France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether wielding a fencing rapier, a conductor’s baton or a violin bow, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges caused a stir on his way to the top of French society before and after the revolution. With a Hollywood biopic hoping to make the story better known, Nige Tassell explores the remarkable life of the Caribbean-born celebrity <\/p>

By jonathanwilkes\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 25 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Who was Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges?<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s a long way from the rural Caribbean to Parisian high society. Arriving into this world on Christmas Day in 1745 in Guadeloupe, Joseph Bologne was born to an enslaved woman named Nanon who was the personal assistant of the wife of a local plantation owner. That plantation owner \u2013 Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges \u2013 was the baby\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
However, despite being married and baby Joseph being born out of wedlock, Georges recognised the child as his and gave him his surname. He appeared to not be affected by any social shame of the time. Indeed, two years after seven-year-old Joseph was sent away to boarding school in France, Georges and Nanon would join him in Paris and the three would live together in a high-status apartment.<\/p>\n
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When he was 13, Joseph was enrolled in a fencing school where he showed outstanding physical prowess. His sword skills helped him become an officer of the king\u2019s bodyguard by 1766. He was also named a chevalier, a type of knighthood, which he added to his name (as a man of mixed heritage, he couldn\u2019t inherit his father\u2019s title: Gentleman of the King\u2019s Chamber).<\/p>\n
Was Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges the \u2018black Mozart\u2019?<\/h2>\n
Little is known of Joseph\u2019s childhood musical abilities, but in 1769 he took his place as a violinist in the new orchestra of composer Fran\u00e7ois-Joseph Gossec. He appears to have shown similar precociousness in music as he had in fencing; within four years, he became its conductor. Under his baton, the ensemble \u2013 Le Concert des Amateurs \u2013 rose to become Paris\u2019s most celebrated symphony orchestra. Parisians flocked to attend their performances, with women entranced by the handsome Joseph.<\/p>\n
By the time he graduated to the conductorship, he had already shown his talent as a soloist when performing the first violin concertos he\u2019d written. During the 1770s, Joseph wrote many works: concertos, symphonies and comic operas. This was a fecund time for him and he was the toast of the French capital. Despite his popularity, though, Le Concert des Amateurs dissolved due to a lack of money.<\/p>\n
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