Meet Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Welcome to CODA! Coda comes from the Latin word for “tail,” and in music, it indicates an additional passage at the end of a piece of music, a final flourish that compliments what’s come before. CODA goes beyond the curtain call to explore this unique and astonishing art form. Whether you’re a first-time opera-goer or a seasoned audience member, CODA is for you. Biweekly, we’ll enhance your experience of opera with behind-the-scenes highlights, educational articles, listening lists, and much, much more!
Rehearsals are underway for The Anonymous Lover, and we cannot wait for our audiences to experience this charming work. Written in 1780 by the virtuosic composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, The Anonymous Lover follows Léontine, a young widow who is disenchanted with the notion of love. When she begins receiving anonymous love letters, her close friend (and secret admirer!) feigns amusement, while working up the courage to reveal himself as the sender. The Anonymous Lover’s lighthearted melodies and heartfelt story make this the perfect piece to share with someone you love.?
If you’ve never heard of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, you’re not alone. Bologne’s name is often conspicuously missing among the famed 18th century composers, due to music history’s erasure of Black artists from the 18th and 19th centuries. In recent years, interest in Bologne and his works has been mounting, and his life inspired the 2022 feature film Chevalier. Bologne’s catalogue of compositions includes everything from string quartets to full operas, and his musical legacy deserves to be heard. Let us introduce you to this incredible artist.?
Early years
Born in 1745 in the French Caribbean colony of Guadeloupe, Bologne was the son of a wealthy plantation owner and an enslaved 16-year-old girl from Senegal, known as Nanon. At the age of seven, he was taken to France, where he began his formal education. After moving to Paris, Nanon became a free woman and Joseph studied music, mathematics, literature, and fencing. At the young age of 17, Joseph was made an officer of the king’s guard and received the title “Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges.”
Bologne had always shown a talent for music and was a virtuosic violinist. He began his professional career as a musician with Les Concerts des Amateurs, and he made a splash as a soloist in 1772,? playing two of his own violin concerti. Just one year later, Bologne became the group’s conductor. Under his leadership, Les Concerts des Amateurs grew in both prominence and skill, and was eventually regarded as one of Paris’ finest musical ensembles.?
By 1776, Bologne was one of the best-known musicians in Paris, and when the post of music director of the Paris Opéra became vacant, Bologne submitted an application for the position. Due to his prominence and close relationship with Marie Antoinette, many considered him a shoo-in for the role, but Bologne couldn’t escape the racism that would follow him throughout his career. His promotion was thwarted by three of the Opéra’s leading sopranos, who wrote to the queen expressing their objections to working for a man of color. Eventually, Bologne withdrew his application from consideration.?
His music
Bologne’s first composition, Op. I, probably composed in 1770 or 1771, was a set of six string quartets, among the first to be published in France. He wrote his major instrumental works - twelve violin concertos, two symphonies, and eight symphony-concertantes - over a short period of time; all were published between 1771 and 1779.?
In 1776, after the Paris Opéra disappointment, Bologne turned his attention to composing operas. His first opera, Ernestine, premiered at the Comédie-Italienne in 1777. It was not a success. Bologne’s score received good reviews, but the libretto was weak, and the opera closed after just one performance. His second opera, La Partie de Chasse (The Hunting Party), premiered in 1778, to a much friendlier reception. The Journal de Paris said of the work, “Vastly superior compared with Ernestine… there is every reason to encourage him to continue [writing operas]." Unfortunately, only a few numbers from each have survived.
Madame de Montesson, wife of the Duc d'Orléans, engaged Bologne as music director of her private theater in 1778, and it was there that L'Amant Anonyme (The Anonymous Lover) premiered in 1780. The libretto was adapted from a play of the same name by lauded playwright Madame de Genlis, Madame de Montesson’s niece. The Anonymous Lover is the only one of his operas that survived the French Revolution in full. Bologne went on to write three other operas in quick succession: La Fille gar?on, Aline et Dupré, and Guillaume tout coeur ou les amis du village, but all have been lost.
Soldier and swordsman?
In addition to his work as a violinist, conductor, and composer, Bologne was widely known as a master fencer and athlete. President John Adams once said that Bologne was “the most accomplished man in Europe in riding, shooting, fencing, dancing, and music.” As a teenager, Bologne’s fencing prowess brought him fame throughout Europe as he participated in dueling contests in Paris and London. He is rumored to have only lost one match in his entire career.?
Despite his relationship with the French aristocracy, Bologne made the decision to serve the Revolution as a citizen-soldier; he was one of the first in Lille to join its Garde Nationale in 1790. But his military duties did not stop Bologne from making music. He was building an orchestra which, according to the announcement in the paper, "[would] give a concert every week until Easter." At the last of these concerts, the mayor of Lille read a poem dedicated to Bologne, and placed a crown of laurels upon his head.?
In 1792, Bologne was appointed colonel of the Légion Franche de Cavalerie des Américains (American Free Legion of Cavalry), a new military legion of volunteers from the French West Indies and Le Midi. This group, comprised of men of color, became known as the Légion Saint-Georges. Though Bologne served on the front lines and was considered by many to be a war hero, he couldn’t escape his ties to the aristocracy. Marie-Antoinette, Jacques Pierre Brissot, and Philippe égalité, who had all recently been executed, were known to Bologne, and suspicion around him was high. He was jailed on trumped-up charges in 1793, spending nearly a year in prison.
After his release, it is believed that Bologne spent time in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), though there is no trace of him in the press of the time. We do know that he was back in Paris by 1797, where he created a new orchestra, Le Cercle de l'Harmonie. No longer with the army, Bologne took solace in his music, saying “Towards the end of my life, I was particularly devoted to my violin… never before did I play it so well!” He died of an illness in 1799, at the age of 53. His death certificate was lost, but one of the men who removed his body the next day wrote this epitaph: “This year died, twenty-four days apart, two extraordinary but very different men, Beaumarchais and Saint-Georges; both Masters at sparring; the one who could be touched by a foil was not the one who was more enviable for his virtues.”?
Though many of his works were lost in the Revolution, what has survived is finally being recognized by arts organizations around the world. The Anonymous Lover, Bologne’s only surviving operatic work, holds a significant place in the annals of music history as one of the first known operas composed by a Black artist. But Bologne and his music are more than a historical footnote. The Anonymous Lover is a melodic, sincere, romantic work of art from a multi-talented, fascinating composer. Join us February 16, 17, and 18 to experience this delightful opera!
Join us for the second half of our 2023/24 mainstage season, featuring The Anonymous Lover and Eurydice. Explore the power, depth, and complexity of our most human of emotions: love.
Want to learn more? Sign up for our mailing list to stay up to date on all things BLO.