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From the 18th-century violin master Chevalier de Saint-Georges to New York\u2019s rising star Jessie Montgomery, black composers have played an important role in the history of classical music. <\/p>
However, despite an abundance of talent and the ability of some to capture rhythms and motifs from different cultures, racial prejudice and discrimination often hampered the careers of even the most famous black composers. <\/p>
Finally, however, composers from a wider range of backgrounds are being commissioned and are having their works performed. But black composers are still overlooked by musical history. Here are a few we think you should know about. <\/p>
An acclaimed composer and violinist, Joseph Bologne<\/a><\/strong> (also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges) delighted the French court with his orchestral works as well as the pieces he wrote for the violin. He joined the king\u2019s guard and was knighted after winning an impossible duel against a French swordsman, a feat which made him known across all of Europe. <\/p> Saint-Georges was later given the nickname ‘Black Mozart’. The pair met during Mozart<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s early years in France, and the innovative structure of the Symphonies Concertantes they both composed, doubling the violin solo to obtain two layers of melody, prompted audiences to identify a link between them by the time the younger Mozart\u2019s fame had grown.<\/p> In fact, historians believe that entire themes from Mozart\u2019s Les Petits Riens ballets were borrowed from Saint-Georges\u2019 own pieces. Chi-Chi Nwanoku, founder of the BME orchestra Chineke<\/a><\/strong>!, assesses the relationship between the two composers\u2019 oeuvres in her documentary In Search of the Black Mozart<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>