Comment by Daniel Marciano: 'Fencing is indeed a form of expression'

[Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th & 19th Centuries; Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Encore Chamber Orchestra; Daniel Hege, Conductor; Cedille 90000 035 (1997)]

On Monday, October 13, AfriClassical posted "Fencers Who Composed Include Giuseppe Tartini and Chevalier J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas."  It followed up on a post by a fencing enthusiast about his discovery of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), who was a fencer, violinist and composer. Daniel Marciano is an expert on theatrical fencing.  He submitted a comment on the AfriClassical post: "Hi, I read it with interest.  I suddenly thought that the reference of the article of Véronique Bouisson is on my web site. If you type http:www.chevalier-de-saint-georges.fr/10728.html I mention her in my comment entitled Le Prestige de l’Escrime (The Prestige of Fencing). 

Here is an excert of my prose:

In an article which appeared on the first number of Duels en Scène (Duels on the stage), a scholarly review published by « Le Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales sur l’Escrime Ancienne et de Spectacle », Véronique Bouisson studied the language of the weapons in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and concludes by the following lines: “The duel takes the word over, both literally and figuratively. It seizes it, reduces it to silence or transforms it into a cry of fear, of pain, of love. The sword takes on an emblematic value which makes it a symbol of the verb. It offers the spectator an apocalyptic vision of Verona and, coming out of the mouth of the Word, it opens the gates of Heaven or Hell.”

Fencing is indeed a form of expression. Each fencer has his own style and behaves differently when crossing blades with a partner. Ernest Legouvé (1807-1903) a French poet, critic and playwright who was a keen fencer used to say that you don’t know a person well until you fenced with him. He wanted to say that during a bout someone who is usually well-mannered may behave as a gentleman when crossing blades with the person facing him but also lose his social varnish and show passion, aggressiveness, impatience or an absence of fair play.