Joseph Bologne (1745-1799) was born on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the son of Nanon, an enslaved woman of Senegalese origin, and Georges de Bologne, a French plantation owner. Joseph’s father loved his son and took responsibility for his development and education, placing him in a French boarding school in 1753. Georges de Bologne and Nanon followed their son to France two years later, and the trio moved into an apartment in Paris. In 1757, Georges became a Gentleman of the King’s Chamber, serving as a personal assistant to King Louis XV.
When he was 13, Joseph entered the Académie royale polytechnique des armes et de l'équitation (basically, the Royal Academy of Fencing and Horsemanship). According to one report, “At 15, [Bologne’s] progress was so rapid, that he was already beating the best swordsmen, and at 17 he developed the greatest speed imaginable.” One of his most important public victories came when Bologne beat Alexandre Picard, a fencing master who publicly mocked him as a “mulatto,” in a match that generated a great deal of anti-slavery sentiment. When Bologne graduated in 1766, he became a Gendarme du roi (officer of the King’s Bodyguard) and a chevalier (knight). At that point, he assumed the distinguished title “Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges.”
Joseph Bologne was not simply a remarkable swordsman. He was also one of the finest musicians in Europe. We know less about his musical education than his military training. In 1766, a composer named François-Joseph Gossec dedicated some trios to him. Three years later, Bologne emerged as a violinist in Gossec’s Les Concerts des Amateurs (an ensemble of professional and amateur musicians). In 1772, he made a sensational solo debut with the orchestra, playing two concertos he wrote for himself to play. As the Mercure de France proclaimed, “These concertos were performed...by the author himself, who received great applause as much for their performance as for their composition.” Bologne was named conductor of the Concerts des Amateurs a year later, and under his direction, the ensemble became known as one of the finest in Europe. The Concerto in A Major, Op. 5, No. 2, was undoubtedly one of the works Bologne wrote to perform. The opening movement includes at least four distinct melodies, brought back toward the end with noteworthy elaboration. Bologne’s melodic gifts come to the foreground in the Largo, rocking and peaceful. Once again, the Chevalier’s talent for infectious themes shines through in the concluding Rondeau, which centers on one central theme with contrasting episodes.
© 2024 Jennifer More
