The historic drama “Chevalier” whisks viewers away to the French royal courtroom of the 1700s, the place a younger man — the title character — rises from obscurity to be an internationally-famed musician and composer. The true story of the person often called “Chevalier,” nevertheless, is much more spectacular than the flicks can think about.
Who Was Chevalier?
Chevalier’s full title and title was Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Born in 1745, he was the son of Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges, a rich and married plantation proprietor within the then-French Caribbean colony of Guadeloupe (in the present day an abroad division of France), and an enslaved Senegalese lady named Nanon, who was probably round 16 years outdated when her son was born.
Saint-Georges acknowledged Joseph’s existence and relationship to him. Beginning at age eight, Joseph was taken to France to be educated at a Jesuit college, and his mother and father joined him in France a few years later. By the time he was a teenager, Joseph was quickly gaining discover as a expert fencer. Soon, his achievements had been so nice that he caught the eye of King Louis XV, who named him an officer of the royal guards and a chevalier — therefore his best-known moniker, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Years later, he continued to underline his fight abilities by combating within the French Revolution (in service of the First Republic).
His fencing prowess, nevertheless, wouldn’t be his solely declare to fame. When he was in his twenties, Joseph burst into the music scene as a violin prodigy and composer, with little recognized traditionally about how he acquired his music coaching. He earned nice renown for his concertos and his performances, notably with a new symphony orchestra known as Les Concerts des Amateurs; he turned the orchestra’s conductor in 1773 and led it to nice acclaim. He was a up to date of Mozart and Haydn, amongst different classical music greats. During his musical profession, he additionally was commissioned by theaters to put in writing operas and was invited to seem within the salons of the rich elite.
Was Chevalier Black?
The actual Chevalier was a mixed-race Black man, the son of a white plantation proprietor and a Black enslaved lady. As a consequence — regardless of his expertise, fame, and acclaim — he confronted many obstacles in his profession and life. In 1776, he was a main candidate to take over as music director of the Paris Opera, however a group of singers wrote on to Queen Marie Antoinette (who was herself a pupil of Joseph’s), insisting that they’d not take orders from a mixed-race man. The queen didn’t immediately intervene, nor did she defend her tutor, and information of the petition was enough for Joseph to rescind his software.
Chevalier’s Legacy
For a few years, the legacy of the “Chevalier” has been subsumed by the larger fame of his white contemporaries. He has even, on many events, been known as “the Black Mozart.” In actuality, his legacy ought to and might stand by itself, as a “Renaissance man” who was expert and famend each athletically and artistically, and because the first recognized European musician and composer of African descent to attain widespread fame and demanding reward.
“One of his close friends wrote a biographical notice a few decades after his death and, unlike other more famous composers of this period, it’s very clear that music was just one facet of Bologne’s personal and professional identity. His friend praises his upstanding character and his accomplishments as a swordsman, a dancer, a swimmer, an ice skater, and so on. It’s truly extraordinary,” music professor Julia Doe advised The Guardian.
“Chevalier” marks the primary main on-screen depiction of this outstanding life, however it appears unlikely to be the final.
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