Who is Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges?

The answer, sadly and undoubtedly, is due to his colour. He was the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim in European music, a contemporary of Mozart, and during the height of his fame and popularity in 18th century France he would regularly rub shoulders with nobility and royalty. And yet despite his talents and standing, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges still found his progress and legacy constrained by the prevailing racism of the time.

But who was the remarkable Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George and how did he rise above the attitudes of the day?

He is the son of a plantation owner and slave woman

Joseph was born in Guadeloupe on Christmas Day, 1748, the son of George Bologne, a plantation owner, and a 16-year-old Senegalese slave woman known as Nanon. George, it should be pointed out, was married, and not to Nanon. Yet his affection for his mistress and his son led to Joseph being welcomed into the family, and taking the family name.

He is descended from Italian nobility

George, who also carried the title Chevalier de Saint George (the equivalent of a modern day knighthood), was the son of Pierre de Bologne, a wealthy colonist. Though French, the family could trace its origins back to the noble and ancient house of Bologne, which originated in the Italian city more commonly known now as Bologna. 

At the time of Joseph’s birth, his father was in exile

Joseph would not have seen his father in the first years of his life. In 1747, whilst paying a visit to his uncle, George had become involved in a scuffle that left a fellow guest with a broken nose. Three days later that guest died (most likely of infection). George, now accused of murder, fled Guadeloupe, only returning from exile some years later when he was officially pardoned. His return to Guadeloupe was relatively brief, and in 1759 George returned to France, taking Joseph and Nanon with him.

It was not his music that initially brought him acclaim

Though Joseph had begun studying music whilst still in Guadeloupe – taking violin lessons from his father’s estate manager – it was for his skills as a fencer that he first began to make waves. His friend and fellow student Antoine la Boëssière wrote of Joseph’s talent as a swordsman, ‘at the age of fifteen, he had made such rapid progress that he could beat the strongest fencers. By seventeen he had developed superlative speed. The acquisition of experience set him beyond compare.’ Whilst still a student, Joseph defeated the fencing master Alexandre Picard in a much publicised match; his victory saw Louis XVI appoint Joseph as a ‘gendarme de la garde du roi’, a position which enabled him to take the title ‘Chevalier de Saint-Georges’.

His music career began to take off in his early twenties

Joseph’s musical talent began to make waves in the late 1760s and early 1770s when he joined Paris’ Le Concert de Amateurs, led by François-Joseph Gossec. Whilst with the orchestra Joseph published his first composition, Op. I, a set of six string quartets, which was published by famed French publisher, composer, and teacher Antoine Bailleux. Joseph’s talent would see him appointed concert master, and principal soloist of Le Concert de Amateurs and when Gossec moved on to direct the Concert Spirituel in 1773, it was Joseph who succeeded him as conductor.

He was denied a high profile artistic directorship due to his race

In 1776, the Paris Opéra, was seeking a new director. Joseph’s pedigree, skill and reputation saw him as the obvious choice for the role, and was proposed as such. However, according to accounts at the time, three of the Opéra’s leading ladies – Marie-Madeleine Guimard, Rosalie Levasseur and Sophie Arnould – presented a petition to the Queen to block the appointment, stating that they could never submit to the orders of a Black man. To defuse the situation Louis XVI took the running of the Paris Opéra into the royal household.

Marie Antoinette was among his biggest fans

There is an irony in the petition to see Joseph blocked from becoming artistic director of the Paris Opéra being presented to the queen, as she was a long-time fan of him and his music. Joseph had often acted as a music teacher in Marie Antoinette’s court, and was one of few musicians of the time invited to perform with her; he on the violin, Her Majesty on the fortepiano. 

He is occasionally referred to as the Black Mozart

Despite the Paris Opéra set-back Joseph continued to compose, penning two more violin concertos, a set of quartets and two concert symphonies, before turning his attention to opera. His music was often compared to that of Mozart, leading to him being often dubbed the Black Mozart. But Joseph was 11 years Mozart’s senior, with a very prominent social standing, and so, as biographer Bill Barclay stated in an interview, it really ought to have been a case of Mozart being dubbed the White Chevalier.

He premiered several of Haydn’s symphonies

After Le Concert de Amateurs had to be disbanded due to a lack of funding, Joseph became part of Le Concert Olympique. Although newly established, it featured much of the same players as de Amateurs, and was quick to gain prominence, so much so that the orchestra was able to commission Haydn to write his Paris symphonies, which they would premiere under Joseph’s baton.

His musical success would be cut short by the French Revolution

Despite his musical connections to the monarchy, Joseph served the Revolution as a citizen-soldier, joining up to Lille’s Garde Nationale in 1790, where his military background and standing would see him soon appointed a captain and colonel. The ongoing conflicts in France would dominate the last decade of Joseph’s life – initially thought to have died in a pistol fight in 1791, he spent at least 11 months in prison, before eventually dying from illness in 1799 – and would also cost him much of his legacy. Many of Joseph’s compositions were lost during the Revolution, and what remained was rarely performed, until recent efforts to bring his talents back to the attention of audiences.

Written with the aid of research by Chineke! Orchestra