Joseph Bologne’s String Quartet No. 3 in C Major

 


This February, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates Black composers and musicians whose music has been suppressed and ignored. All of these musicians should be added to the music history and music theory curriculum.

https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/saintgeorges_string_5.mp3

Joseph Bologne (sometimes Boulogne), Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799) was one of the first European musicians with African ancestry. He was born in Guadeloupe. His father, a rich nobleman, took Joseph to Paris and made sure that he was educated and given every opportunity that the family money could provide. He became a champion fencer. He was known as a virtuoso violinist, and when he became the conductor of one of the leading symphony orchestras in Europe, Le Concert des Amateurs, in 1773, audiences from all over Europe flocked to attend his concerts. Bologne’s fame was not restricted to Europe: the U.S. President John Adams called him “the most accomplished man in Europe.” He very possibly was the inspiration for Aramis in Alexandre Dumas’  Les Trois Mousquetaires. Although people today refer to him as the “Black Mozart,” he was in fact older and already well-established long before Mozart appeared on the scene.

There is a story, recounted by Jessica Duchen, that Emanuel Schickaneder, knowing that Bologne was Mozart’s nemesis—everything the spoiled Wolfie was not: someone who was liked, was accomplished in many fields, and was adored by the masses as well as the monarchy—wrote the role of Monostatos, the villain in Die Zauberflöte, with Bologne in mind.

Bologne’s Quartetto Concertants, published around 1779, were thought for many years to have been lost. As William E. Thomas says in the liner notes for the rare recording of these wonderful string quartets: "These are extraordinary works. They are not written in the style that was so popular at the time which generally featured the first violin with the other strings taking a supportive role. What we hear instead is a conversation amongst equals. The cello has ample opportunities to 'sing' and carry technically-demanding passages. Equally the viola and second violin are called upon to share melodic material and negotiate the vigorous demands of Saint-Georges' writing."

My classical music post for today is the Allegro from Joseph Bologne’s String Quartet No. 3 in C Major.

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