THE REMARKABLE REVOLUTIONARY

A 1787 portrait of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges by artist Alexandre-Auguste Robineau

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-99), was one of the most incredible musical personages of the late 18Thcentury, yet he languished in relative obscurity for two centuries. Violin virtuoso, composer, champion fencer and French revolutionary officer, he began life on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe as the son of a wealthy French plantation owner and his enslaved African mistress. His life story is told in novels, a Canadian docudrama, an upcoming Hollywood film and a number of recent, qualitatively uneven, biographies. Despite a growing catalogue of recordings of his compositions - there was a particular boom between 1996 and 2005 - his works remain all too rarely performed. Here I will consider his re-emergence in the musical literature, some of the best- documented aspects of his life, and his role in the development of the violin repertoire in the last decades of the 18Thcentury.

FROM NEAR OBLIVION TO CENTRE STAGE

Global rediscovery and esteem for Saint-Georges is a relatively recent phenomenon. He did not receive an entry in George Grove’s ADictionary of Music and Musicians (vol.1, 1878) nor in the second and third editions (by now named Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians - 1904 and 1927). He did, however, receive a brief mention in the entry for the librettist Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, who was ‘not to be confounded wiThthe notorious Chevalier de Saint-Georges (b.1739 [sic], d.1799)’. It is not clear why Grove thought him notorious; he was a lady’s man by reputation, but that did not keep others out of the dictionary. Rather, his notoriety was more probably to do wiThthe colour of his skin. Certainly his white French colleagues of similar or lesser renown were not excluded: violinist Simon Leduc (1742-77) had a half-page entry, while the composer François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829) received in excess of two in the 1927 edition. What makes this slight even more striking is that Saint-Georges had hardly vanished into musicological obscurity at the time. In 1919, the French musicologist Lionel de La Laurencie wrote an admirably extensive article about him as boThvirtuoso violinist and composer in The Musical Quarterly, later augmented in his three- volume L’école française de violon (1922-4).

Whether as a delayed effect of the civil rights movement, or as part of a scholarly rediscovery of classical music beyond ‘the greats’, the revival of Saint-Georges’s music began in earnest in the 1970s wiThalbums by, among others, the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Freeman (1970, 1974) and the Juilliard Quartet (1974) as part of Columbia’s Black Composers Series. Around the same time, fragments of his output began to come back into print: a quartet, a symphony, a violin concerto here and there, largely wiThAmerican or French publishers. In the first edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980) Saint-Georges received his rightful two pages.

From the mid-1990s Saint-Georges became a phenomenon. Most of his surviving symphonies and concertos were recorded (See Selected Recordings, right) and Artaria (New Zealand) began systematically to publish his works. Likewise, multiple biographies, including children’s books, appeared in French and English from 1996 onwards (See Further Reading, page 65). Many legends of doubtful veracity were repeated, butfisome hard-headed new archival research about the chevalier’s life was also being undertaken and published by Pierre Bardin and the violinist Gabriel Banat.

A portrait from the Mercure de France, 1768

OPPOSITE IMAGE COURTESY ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST / HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABEThII

The title page of Saint-Georges’s Six String Quartets op.l, published in 1773

Surprisingly, most recordings of Saint-Georges’s works have not been undertaken by gut-strung and historically informed ensembles. A notable exception to this is the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s remarkable soundtrack (recorded 2002) to Le Mozart noir, the aforementioned Canadian docudrama (2003; rereleased in 2017), which includes vividly filmed performances and historical reconstructions accompanied by a biographical narrative. Unfortunately, and justly, the appellation ‘The Black Mozart’, which caught on in the media after the initial release of the film, has come in for criticism. Julian Ledford, writing in the Journal of Black Studies in 2019, condemns a situation whereby Saint-Georges is cast as a ‘mythicized inferior of the status quo’s perfect symbol of 18th- century classical music’. Indeed, the chevalier merits understanding and assessment on his own terms, especially as it seems more likely that he influenced Mozart than vice versa.

OUTLINE OF A LIFE

Saint-Georges was born on Christmas Day 1745 on the island of Guadeloupe, son of George Boulogne de Saint-Georges (a wealthy planter of Huguenot descent) and Anne Nanon (an enslaved chambermaid of African descent). George Boulogne had appended ‘Saint-Georges’ to his name a few years before, perhaps to imply nobility, but it was his son who was to lend the name renown. Despite being already married, and wiTha daughter, George managed to sustain a double relationship for nearly two decades, taking Anne Nanon to France wiThhim twice, and ultimately abandoning boThof his families in France, returning definitively to Guadeloupe in 1764 (dying there in 1774).

It is clear that there was real affection between father and son, not least because in 1753 he deliberately took Joseph away from a life of legal racial restrictions under the Code Noir in Guadeloupe to a place of relatively greater freedom and educational opportunity in France. WiThthe influence of a wealthy brother, well connected wiThthe court of Louis XV, George opened doors for Joseph. These efforts were aided by the fact that Joseph was already showing a remarkable talent for boThfencing and music. In 1761 he was inscribed in the Gendarmes de la Garde du Roi, an elite cavalry formation attached to the royal household. Joseph had already been enrolled in the world-leading fencing academy of Nicolas Texier de La Boëssière - who would become a sort of godfather to him - at the age of 13. In the 1760s Joseph became known as one of France’s champion fencers, a role that he was to uphold throughout his life. His rapid ascent in music ran parallel to that in athleticism.

SAINT-GEORGES UNDOUBTEDLY HAD A REPUTATION AS A LOVER, AND IT IS SAID HE HAD A PILLOWCASE FULL OF THE LOCKS OF HIS MANY AMOURS

It is not certain when Saint-Georges began to study the violin. Legend says it was in his early boyhood in Guadeloupe. It is speculated that he studied the violin briefly wiThAntonio Lolli and composition over a longer period wiThGossec. One thing is certain: Lolli had already dedicated two concertos of his op.2 to Saint-Georges in 1764, and Gossec dedicated his Six Trios op.9 to Saint-Georges in 1766. Thus, he was already a player of great repute and greater promise, meriting the eager association of his putative teachers, well before his 20Thbirthday.

In 1769 Saint-Georges joined Gossec’s 76-member Concert des Amateurs as first violin, and from 1772 onwards he was to perform his own concertos and symphonies concertantes wiThthem as an acclaimed soloist. By 1773 he had succeeded Gossec as conductor of the orchestra, the latter (along wiThLeduc and Pierre Gaviniés) having been promoted to the directorship of the Concert Spirituel. In that same year, Saint-Georges’s compositions began to be published wiThhis op.1 set of six string quartets (above). On the title pages of his initial works he was styled ‘Monsieur de St. George’, the first visible attribution of the title ‘Chevalier’ appearing in 1776. In 1781, wiThthe financial collapse of the Concert des Amateurs, Saint-Georges became the leader of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, where he played a role in commissioning and performing Haydn’s Paris symphonies (1785-6).

In 1779, John Adams (diplomat, later second US president) wrote about Saint-Georges in his journal, calling him ‘the most accomplished man in Europe in Riding, Running, Shooting, Fencing, Dancing, Musick’. The fact that Saint-Georges was of African descent in a kingdom increasingly hostile to free ‘persons of colour’ makes his accomplishments and fame all the more remarkable. In 1777, Louis XVI banned any further persons of African descent from entering France, and in 1778 interracial marriage was explicitly banned. In this atmosphere it is not surprising that Saint-Georges’s proposed appointment as director of the Paris Opéra in 1775 was prevented by a cabal of divas who wrote to the queen (Marie Antoinette), refusing to submit to the direction of a black man. The king then declined to confirm the appointment, and, not wishing to prefer another candidate over Saint-Georges, he left the Opéra without a director.

Saint-Georges undoubtedly had a reputation as a lover, and it is said he had a pillowcase full of the locks of his many amours.

Uniform of the Légion Saint-Georges, of which Saint-Georges was the colonel

ANNE S.K. BROWN COLLECTION / BROWN UNIVERSITY

An attempt on his life in 1779 is potentially linked to his affair wiThthe married aristocrat (later novelist)

Marie-Joséphine de Montalembert.

Diarists at the time claimed the affair produced a child who died in infancy. A more certain proof of an illegitimate child is the Paris birThrecord (4 April 1794) of a son named Victor, notionally conceived while Saint-Georges was an officer in the French revolutionary army; the mother was Ninette Frédérique.

The character of the chevalier was complex: ambitious, violent, but also likeable, generous and deeply sensitive.

La Boëssière wrote in his Traité de l’art des armes (1818) that ‘despite his volatile temperament he handled himself so well that it was impossible to complain about his occasional outbursts’. The Journal de Paris (17 March 1777) recounts Saint-Georges’s reaction to his colleague Leduc’s deaThwhile rehearsing the adagio from one of his friend’s symphonies at the Concert des Amateurs: ‘Moved by the expressive quality of the composition, and remembering that his friend was no more, he dropped his bow and burst into tears; his emotion communicated itself to the other artists, and the rehearsal had to be suspended.’

From the late 1770s, Saint-Georges was frequently invited to perform at Marie-Antoinette’s musical gatherings at the Petit Trianon and Salon de la Paix, Versailles. It is likely that this included playing violin accompaniment to the young queen at the keyboard. Unfortunately, his celebrity and proximity to the court would eventually play against him in the coming revolution.

After 1785, publication of instrumental music by Saint-Georges ceased, although he would continue occasionally to write operas and vocal music. Under the patronage of the liberal activist Philippe d’Orléans, Duke of Chartres (1747-93), he travelled frequently to England between 1783 and 1790, putting on fencing exhibitions and meeting the Prince of Wales. During one of these visits, in 1787, his portrait was painted by Mather Brown. This famous likeness hung in the fencing academy of Henry Angelo in London, and was soon after made into a popular print.

WiThthe beginnings of the French Revolution in 1789, and a virtually imprisoned constitutional monarchy, Saint-Georges only rarely returned to Paris, relocating in 1790 to Lille, where he joined the French National Guard and led local concerts. In September 1792 he was appointed colonel of a new French regiment, the Hussars Américains & Du Midy (later the Légion Saint-Georges, left), which was to be composed and officered by ‘free men of colour’ - including his rival Thomas Alexandre Dumas (father of the famous author). Political infighting in the regiment, and his past aristocratic associations, led to him being arrested and imprisoned during the Reign ofTerror. Freed in October 1794, Saint-Georges eventually returned to a relatively humble life in Paris, performed occasionally in concerts, and died on 9 June 1799 of ‘an ulcer of the bladder’.

WORKS FOR THE VIOLIN

It is not known what kind of violin Saint-Georges played, although legend holds that he was given an Amati in his boyhood. The bulk of his active playing career took place before the development of the fully modern Tourte bow in Paris (c. 178090), so it is likely that he played on some form of transitional bow wiThinward camber and composed wiThits capabilities in mind.

Saint-Georges was among the earliest French composers of string quartets, his op. 1 set being publicly premiered in 1772. six months before its publication. Two further sets of six quartets each appeared in 1779 (no opus) and 1785 (op.14). Although the third set is of greatest sophistication, all are of a similar genre, what was then referred to as the quatuor concertant or dialogué – in other words, quartets where thematic and soloistic material is passed from player to player in a melodic dialogue (see Mara Parker’s 2002 book The String Quartet, 1750–1797). This type of quartet, dubbed the ‘polite conversation’ by Parker, was particularly popular in Paris at this time, wiThcomparable works produced by Cambini, Gossec and Viotti. Saint-Georges’s 18 quartets are of a two-movement variety, generally wiThan opening allegro moving on to a rondeau, an andante wiThvariations or a minuetto. They are unusual for their time and place in that a third of them are written in minor keys, and indeed these tend to be the most compelling. The quartets were conceived for talented amateurs, an important market at the time; they feature rapid passagework and frequent dynamic effects, but rarely go above third position (example 1, page 63).

EXAMPLE 1 (page 64) String Quartet in E flat major op.1 no.2, first violin part, first movement, opening four line

EITHER OF THESE TWO CONCERTOS WOULD RIVAL VIOTTI’S SUBSEQUENT WORKS IN THEIR TECHNIQUE, CRYSTALLINE DRIVE IN THE FAST MOVEMENTS AND CANTABILE MELODIC LINE IN THE SLOW ONES

In his lifetime Saint-Georges published only three violin sonatas (keyboard sonatas wiThobbligato violin), but there was a posthumous publication of six ‘sonatas’ (wiThthe accompaniment of another violin), effectively duos, published in 1800. Others mentioned in the literature are either lost or probably not by Saint-Georges. For example, Les caquets attributed to him in the 1930s is now known to be by Casadesus. Saint-Georges’s 1781 sonatas (variously referred to as either op.la or op.lb) are the best known of his chamber works, available in a modern edition by Artaria and recorded twice. They are very much in the galant style, and equal roles are accorded to boThinstruments. As wiThhis quartets, these are works wiThtwo long multi-thematic movements each, an initial allegro followed by a slightly slower movement. All feature key changes, and although athletic at times, they are once more aimed at the serious amateur and full of appealing melodic elements (example 2).

EXAMPLE 4 Parallel passages from Saint-Georges's Violin Concerto in A major op.7 no.1 and Mozart's Sinfonia concertante in E flat major K364

Saint-Georges’s most enduring legacy for the professional performer are undoubtedly his 14 violin concertos and 6 symphonies concertantes for two violins, all published between 1773 and 1778. His concertos, all in major keys, are of three movements each, wiTha central largo, adagio or andante, preceded by an allegro and completed by a rondeau. Despite their similarity in format, their thematic material is highly varied, especially in the slow movements, and rewards critical listening. Technical difficulties in the concertos and symphonies concertantes are considerable, wiThplaying in the highest positions, rapid string-crossing and multiple-stopping. One of his two greatest concertos is op.3 no.1 in D major wiThits memorable thematic material and poignant central Adagio of ‘sighs’ (example 3). However, any connection of its wellings of emotion wiThthe tragic Montalembert affair, as implied in Le Mozart noir, is impossible given that it was published in five years prior to the incident. The other notable work is the buoyant and brilliant op.5 no.2 in A major, published in wiThSaint-Georges’s signature crashing chords, arpeggios, batterie and bariolage effects. Either of these two concertos would rival Viotti’s subsequent works in their technique, crystalline drive in the fast movements and cantabile melodic line in the slow ones.

An ongoing point of controversy is the nature and directionality of influence between Saint-Georges and his contemporaries. Banat, in his biography of Saint-Georges, makes a case for his direct compositional influence on Mozart and others including Giornovich and Viotti (and via these composers to boThBeethoven and Clement). One frequently cited example is that of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E flat major K364 (1779), which emerged shortly after Mozart’s 1778 visit to Paris, birthplace of that musical form via the compositions of Cambini, Davaux and Saint-Georges. Among the parallelisms here is one wiTha passage from Saint-Georges’s Violin Concerto in A major op.7 no.1, published in 1777 (example 4). It is known that Mozart and Saint-Georges became acquainted to some degree in the summer of 1778, after the deaThof Mozart’s mother, when boThwere dining and being given accommodation in the mansion of Madame de Montesson in Paris. Still, as the violinist and musicologist David Irving has argued in the journal Early Music (February 2008), in the early Classical era such thematic borrowings were often reciprocal and: ‘While some links may appear tenuous, and while it could be argued that they were a result of following the prevailing compositional style rather than conscious imitation (or homage), their evaluation serves to place Saint-Georges at the forefront of stylistic development in French music.’

CLOSING THOUGHTS

In 2002 the memorialisation of Saint-Georges at last began in France. Fittingly, the Rue Richepance near the Place de la Concorde, formerly named after a general who extinguished a slave revolt in Guadeloupe, was renamed the Rue du Chevalier- de-Saint-George. Given current initiatives of decolonisation this now appears a particularly appropriate and prescient change. But, as stated earlier, Saint-Georges should not be defined by his ethnicity, his former athletic celebrity, or in relation to other celebrated composers. His music deserves to be more widely performed and recorded on its very own substantial merits.