Music by violinist, conductor, and master swordsman Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, will open this weekend’s concert – the first of the new year – by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. The virtual event will stream this Sunday at 4 pm EST.
Born on Christmas Day, 1745, in the French colony of Guadeloupe, Saint-Georges gained renown as a soldier as well as a musician. Commander of the so-called “American Legion,” made up of free men of color, he ascended an all-too-brief thermal of opportunity in the decades leading up to and following the French Revolution. Among his fellow officers was a former fencing student, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the writer of “The Three Musketeers.” Saint-Georges also served as music teacher to Marie Antoinette. Future President of the United States John Adams, in Paris as commissioner to France, described him as “the most accomplished man in Europe.”
Saint-Georges wrote operas, concertos, and chamber music. He also commissioned and led the first performances of Haydn’s “Paris” Symphonies.
The PSO will open its Sunday program with Saint-Georges’ Symphony No. 1 in G major.
In his lifetime, the composer was identified as “Le Mozart Noir.” He actually shared a summer residence with Mozart in 1778. Mozart, 11 years Saint-Georges’ junior was evidently jealous of the older man’s success.
Be that as it may, the PSO will reunite the two artists by concluding the afternoon with Mozart’s Serenade for Winds in C minor, K. 388.
In between, Ukrainian-born pianist (now a resident of Australia) Alexander Gavrylyuk will perform works by Mozart, Brahms, and Arkady Filippenko.
Viewers will receive on-demand access to the concert for a period of one week, beginning on Sunday. To learn more and to register for admission, visit princetonsymphony.org.
