Seattle Baroque Orchestra music director
Alexander Weimann says Saint-Georges was “an absolute master.” (Ben
VanHouten/Ben VanHouten)
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)
Arion 68093
Prof. Quinton Morris
Seattle University
January 29, 2017
By
Special to The Seattle Times
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, whose extraordinary life and works have been
overlooked for centuries, will be in the spotlight during Seattle
Baroque Orchestra’s concert honoring the black
musician/composer/athlete.
He was born to an enslaved woman and a planter in Guadaloupe in the
mid-18th century. Barely more than a quarter-century later, he became
concertmaster (and eventually music director) of the celebrated Paris
orchestra Concert des Amateurs, dazzling audiences with his vigorous
violin solos on his own compositions.
Between these incongruent landmarks, he was renowned in France as a superior teenage athlete, a champion fencer of tremendous dexterity and speed. In time, he would also be known for anti-slavery activism, as well as playing duets with Marie Antoinette and a tendency to sleep with married women.
Between these incongruent landmarks, he was renowned in France as a superior teenage athlete, a champion fencer of tremendous dexterity and speed. In time, he would also be known for anti-slavery activism, as well as playing duets with Marie Antoinette and a tendency to sleep with married women.
Yet
despite his accomplishments as a composer, musician, conductor and
romantic hero of an improbable life, Joseph Bologne, also known as
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is largely forgotten today.
***
Also on the bill is Jean-Marie Leclair’s Concerto for Violin and
Strings in B-flat major, an acknowledgement of unproven claims that
Leclair, founder of the French violin school, taught Saint-Georges.
Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 85 in B-flat major (“La Reine”), one of the
Austrian composer’s so-called Paris symphonies and a work commissioned
and first conducted by Saint-Georges for the orchestra Concert de la
Olympique, will be performed as well.
“All these pieces circle around
Saint-Georges,” says Seattle Baroque Orchestra music director Alexander
Weimann, who selected his subject’s Concerto for Two Violins and
Strings in G major, plus the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in C
major, as representative of Saint-Georges’ technically demanding yet
rewarding work.
“Le Mozart Noir” will be performed throughout the Northwest. Violinist Monica Huggett, artistic director of the Portland ensemble, will be the soloist.
The players at all these concerts, says Weimann — who learned of Saint-Georges only a few years ago — have their work cut out for them.
***
A pre-concert talk by Quinton Morris, associate professor and director of chamber and instrumental music at Seattle University, will shed light on Saint-Georges’ story and music. Morris, a violinist, toured the world last year lecturing about Saint-Georges, performing his music and screening a short film on the subject, “The Breakthrough” (which won a top prize from the European Independent Film Award festival)
“On my tour, wherever I went, I heard people say, ‘I didn’t know there was a black violinist in classical music history,’” says Morris. “So many people don’t know the impact he had.”
“Le Mozart Noir” will be performed throughout the Northwest. Violinist Monica Huggett, artistic director of the Portland ensemble, will be the soloist.
The players at all these concerts, says Weimann — who learned of Saint-Georges only a few years ago — have their work cut out for them.
***
A pre-concert talk by Quinton Morris, associate professor and director of chamber and instrumental music at Seattle University, will shed light on Saint-Georges’ story and music. Morris, a violinist, toured the world last year lecturing about Saint-Georges, performing his music and screening a short film on the subject, “The Breakthrough” (which won a top prize from the European Independent Film Award festival)
“On my tour, wherever I went, I heard people say, ‘I didn’t know there was a black violinist in classical music history,’” says Morris. “So many people don’t know the impact he had.”
Comment by email:
Hi Bill, Thanks so much for posting. Wonderful! I hope you are well. Best wishes, Quinton Quinton Morris
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