Overture to ‘L’amant Anonyme’
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Composer and violinist Joseph Bologne, also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was born in Baillif, Guadeloupe, on Dec. 25, 1745, and died in Paris, June 9, 1799. He is one of 18th-century music history’s most intriguing figures, long known mainly to music historians but relatively unknown to audiences until recently. Interest in composers of color has led to worldwide renewed interest in his life and music, both of which have allowed his music to emerge from relative, and undeserved, obscurity. As a result, audiences are discovering not only a fresh musical voice from the past, but have restored Bologne’s reputation as a master of many skills, including his fame as a champion fencing master. Indeed, no less a figure than John Adams, who encountered Bologne in Paris, judged him to be the “most accomplished man in Europe.” His Symphony No. 2 in D Major is in three movements and dates, as best as we can tell, from the 1770s. Also known for his operas, the L’amant Anonyme (The Anonymous Lover) dates from 1780, and is the only one of Bologne’s six operas to have survived. Its overture is a reworking of his Symphony No. 2 in D Major, dating from the 1770s. It is scored for two oboes, two horns and strings.
When I was a graduate student in musicology, the name of Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges was brought to my attention by Barry Brook of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Brook, whose expertise was in 18th-century music. He shared with me and my fellow aspiring musicologists the importance of this composer in the development of the genre known as the “symphonie concertante,” a cross between symphony and concerto for two or more instruments. This type of composition was especially popular in Paris, but fine examples stemmed from the pens of Haydn, Mozart and others.
Bologne was the son of a white planter, George Bologne, and his African slave Nanon. The title Chevalier de Saint-Georges became official when Joseph Bologne’s father acquired the title of Gentilhomme Ordinaire de la Chambre du Roi. The family resettled in France in 1753, after which Joseph began his tutelage as a champion swordsman, which eventually led him to earn the title of Gendarme de la Garde du Roi as well as the title of Chevalier. After George Bologne returned to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, Joseph became the beneficiary of an annuity created by his father and remained in France. He became the darling of the elite, partly based on his expertise as a fencing master. None other than John Adams dubbed him as “the most accomplished man in Europe in riding, shooting, dancing, fencing and music.”
Much less is known of his early musical training, although evidence suggests he was already known in musical circles as early as 1764, based largely on his skill as a violinist and composer. He soon became the concertmaster of a new orchestra, the Concerts des Amateurs. This opportunity led to his composition of two concertos for violin that demonstrated his extraordinary skills as a virtuoso. Under his guidance, the Orchestra of the Amateurs became one of Europe’s leading ensembles.
His success led in 1776 to a proposal that Joseph be named director of the Paris Opéra, but racism reared its ugly head as a faction petitioned Queen Marie Antionette, refusing to be governed by a mulatto. Louis XVI decided to nationalize the institution, thus blunting Saint-Georges’ critics. As a result, the composer turned his attention increasingly toward the composition of operas. But by the 1780s, he again took up the mantle of orchestra leader and founded the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the organization that commissioned none other than the illustrious Joseph Haydn to compose his six “Paris’’ symphonies, Nos. 82 to 87. While music, opera and fencing remained central to Saint-Georges’ life, he also became a strong advocate for equality for Black people in France and England. He thus was, and once again has become, a symbol for racial equality. A man of myriad talents is receiving richly-deserved recognition as an important cultural figure.
The overture to his opera, L’amant Anonyme, uses the same music as his Symphony No. 2, a cheerful work in three movements played without pause. The outer movements are exuberant representations of the popular galant style of the Classical era, while the central slow movement — a rondo in the minor mode — adds a touch of pathos. The three-part structure is the same one found in 18th-century overtures in the Italian style. Such works were often identified as “sinfonia,” and were among the forms that contributed to the evolution of the symphony.
Symphony No. 82 in C Major, Hob. I:82 (‘The Bear’)
Joseph Haydn
(Franz) Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Lower Austria, on March 31, 1732, and died in Vienna on May 31, 1809. His long and productive career spanned the end of the Baroque Era to the onset of the Romantic. Famed for his incomparable contribution to the development of the symphony and string quartet, Haydn composed an enormous amount of music in other genres, including sacred choral music. His Symphony No. 82 was composed in 1786 as one of six symphonies composed for the Parisian orchestra, Les Concerts de la Loge Olympique, and was first performed in 1787 under the direction of its biracial leader, Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges in the Salle des Gardes du Corps of the Tuileries. The commission for the “Paris” symphonies came from Claude-François-Marie Rigoley, Comte d’Ogny, but the details of the contract were left to Saint-Georges’ discretion. Its subtitle,“The Bear” (“L’ours”), was not given by the composer. It is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns or two trumpets, timpani and strings.
Joseph Haydn was one of the most fortunate composers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Starting in 1761, he enjoyed the steady patronage of the wealthy and powerful Esterhazy family of Hungarian princes, for whom he composed an astonishing large number of compositions. It mattered little to the younger Haydn that his workload was exceedingly heavy and that his compositions were the sole property of his employer. Greater artistic freedom would come his way eventually, and the six symphonies (Nos. 82 to 87) composed for Paris bear witness to the composer’s growing popularity throughout Europe. As the composer himself said to Mozart in 1790, “My language is understood throughout the world.” Indeed, history has documented that many of Haydn’s works started to gain popularity in Paris as early as 1864. The Parisian orchestra known as the Concert de la Loge Olympique was an unusually large ensemble for its day, comprising 40 violins and 10 double basses, numbers that far exceeded the orchestra at the Esterhazy estates for which Haydn had composed his previous symphonies. Haydn biographer H. C. Robbins Landon described the attire of members of the orchestra as “splendid ‘sky-blue’ dress coats with elaborate lace ruffles and swords at their sides.” Among the orchestra’s patrons was the Austrian-born queen Marie Antoinette, who surely delighted in hearing music by her fellow countryman. Indeed, the Symphony No. 85 accrued the nickname, “La Reine de France,” suggesting that this symphony may have been her favorite.
Although published later as Symphony No. 82, the symphony popularly known as “The Bear” was actually the last of the symphonies composed for performance in Paris, with the manuscript dated 1786 and marked at the end with Haydn’s typical piety, “Finis Laus Deo.” The inscription “In Nomine Domini” may also be found at the head of the first movement. By the time Haydn composed this work, he had already gone a long way toward honing his skills as a symphonist. The first movement of Symphony No. 82, Vivace Assai (“Very Lively”), begins with a flourish of sixteenth notes that outline the home key of C Major as well as its triple meter. The opening gesture is followed by a fanfare that suggests a military tattoo, or bugle call. Such figuration might suggest the use of trumpets, and it is interesting that Haydn indicates the scoring call for trumpets or horns. His Symphony No. 31 (“Horn Signal”) of 1765, however, has similar rhythmic properties. It is entirely possible that this earlier work had enjoyed some popularity in Paris; and Haydn, ever eager to please his audiences, may have written this into his work self-consciously.
The second movement, Allegretto, presents a charming tune in F Major, which alternates and contrasts with episodes in F Minor. The third movement, Menuetto, is a standard minuet with a contrasting central trio section that is followed by a reprise of the first part. The finale, Vivace, is the movement that inspired the symphony’s nickname, “The Bear,” due to its bagpipe-like drone figure, complete with grace notes. Dancing bears in the 18th century were often a feature at rural fairs, and the choreography was usually accompanied by bagpipes. As is frequently the case with Haydn’s works, even in his most sophisticated ones, there is a feeling of the “good earth” permeating its milieu.
Symphony in D Major, K. 297/300a (‘Paris’)
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born Jan. 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austra. He died on Dec. 5, 1791, in Vienna. His full name recorded at his christening was Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Gottlieb. The Latin translation of his last name is Amadeus. Later in life, Mozart often chose to use the French version, Amadé. All versions translate as “beloved of God.” His Symphony in D Major, K. 297 (No. 31) is dated June 1778, during which time Mozart and his mother took up temporary residence in the French capital city. It was first performed on June 12 of that year at the Paris home of Count Sickingen and repeated in public at a performance of the Concert Spirituel on June 18. The “K” number used for Mozart’s works refers to the name Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, who first issued the Chronological-Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Works of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart in 1862. The Köchel catalogue has been updated and revised many times to keep pace with musicological revelations. The work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
Mozart’s father, Leopold, had controlled the development of his son’s career from the moment he recognized the wunderkind’s extraordinary musical talent. Leopold was renowned in Salzburg and throughout Europe as an accomplished pedagogue, who in 1755 wrote a highly respected treatise on the fundamentals of violin playing, the Versuch Einer Gründlichen Violinschule, that was published in 1756, the year of Wolfgang’s birth. Born in Augsburg in present-day Germany, Leopold rose through the ranks in the musical service of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. At the cost of advancing his own career in Salzburg, Mozart’s father set out on a series of European tours with his son in order to promote the child prodigy. Wolfgang, like his father, entered into the Prince-Archbishop’s service until his discontent with his sovereign reached a point of crisis in 1777, when he requested to be released from his duties, resulting in the dismissal of both father and son.
Feeling unable to leave Salzburg, Leopold dispatched Wolfgang and his mother, Maria Anna, to other cities in order for the younger Mozart to procure employment that would support the family. Hoping that Mannheim, which had long been the site of a prosperous musical court, would be the answer, Leopold’s hopes remained unfulfilled despite Wolfgang making useful contacts. Mother and son arrived in Paris sometime in March 1778. The 6-year-old Mozart had visited Paris with his father and talented sister, Nannerl, during the first of his six European tours. It was on this occasion that the child performed for King Louis XV. Now a young adult, he was never a fan of Parisian musical tastes, and his unhappiness was compounded by a series of events, the most devastating being the death of his mother on July 3. Among these was a miserable performance of his new symphony, written with the French audience’s expectations in mind, by the orchestra of the Concert Spirituel. Nevertheless, additional performances of the work followed, and for one reason or another, Mozart substituted new music to serve as the center of the work’s three movements.
Despite the flaws in its premiere, the Parisian public found much in the work that pleased them, and the “Paris” Symphony retains its popularity among the canon of Mozart’s symphonies. Written for a typically large French ensemble, the first movement in particular is filled with impressive flourishes. According to the composer’s account of the premiere, the audience broke out into applause at some of the work’s effects, even in the middle of the outer movements. On a further historical note, after his mother’s death, Mozart remained in Paris, sharing quarters with none other than Paris’ musical superstar – Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the composer, violinist, and fencing master, who at that moment was at the height of his powers. Failing to find satisfactory employment in Paris, Wolfgang would have to wait until his move to Vienna in 1781 to reach the pinnacle of his own abilities as a symphonist.