Joseph Bologne de Saint-George (1744-1799)
- Sinfonia (en ré majeur) à plusieurs instruments ... oeuvre XI (1779)
Performers: Orchestre de Chambre de Versailles; Bernard Wahl (1922-1994, conductor)
Further info: Joseph Bologne (1745-1799) - Sonatas pour clavecin
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Caribbean composer, violinist, swordsman, equestrian and military
commander. Son of a manumitted African mother and French plantation
owner (his last name was apparently taken from one of the plantations
his father owned), he grew up in the vicinity of Basse-Terre. His family
went to France in 1747 to escape difficulties with the law but returned
to Guadeloupe a few years later. In 1753 they moved permanently, first
to Bordeaux then to Paris, where he underwent his earliest musical
education, probably under Antonio Lolli and a few years later
François-Joseph Gossec. In 1769 he became a violinist in the Concerts
des amateurs, later becoming its director. During this time, beginning
with his debut as a soloist in 1772, he became famous for his technical
proficiency on his instruments, earning the epithet as the finest
violinist of the age. A proposal to make him musical director of the
Opéra in 1776 was blocked by four singers who refused to work with a
“mulatto.” In 1781 he founded the Loge Olympique orchestra sponsored by
one of Paris’s largest masonic lodges; he conducted the premieres of
Haydn’s so-called Paris symphonies, which he had helped commission. In
1787 he traveled to London, where his prowess as a violinist and
swordsman were thought legendary. A supporter of the Revolution, he was
given command of troops from France’s colonial domains in 1792, but a
year later he was denounced and spent 18 months in prison.
Disillusioned, he sailed to Hispanola to participate in the newly
independent Haiti of Toussant l’Ouverture. There the corruption and poor
living standards further eroded his health and state of mind. He
returned to Paris to conduct the Cercle d’harmonie orchestra, but was
unable to escape poverty. During his lifetime, Saint-Georges was a
remarkable bon vivant who freely interacted in the upper circles of
Parisian society. His music was known for its tunefulness and technical
brilliance, using devices such as bariolage that were extremely
uncommon. His 1778 opera 'Le partie du chasse' was well received. In all
he wrote six operas, 13 violin concertos, 10 sinfonia concertantes, a
bassoon concerto, two symphonies, nine violin sonatas, 18 string
quartets, and several other smaller pieces. His multifaceted personality
has been the subject of both literature (six novels) and a motion
picture. He is reckoned as one of the greatest Afro-Caribbean musicians
of the period.
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