The historic drama “Chevalier” whisks viewers away to the French royal court docket 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 known as “Chevalier,” nevertheless, is much more spectacular than the films can think about.
Who Was Chevalier?
Chevalier’s full identify 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 (right this moment an abroad division of France), and an enslaved Senegalese lady named Nanon, who was probably round 16 years outdated when her son was born.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 number of years later. By the time he was a youngster, Joseph was quickly gaining discover as a talented fencer. Soon, his achievements have 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 preventing 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, significantly with a brand new symphony orchestra referred to 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 write down 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 end result — regardless of his expertise, fame, and acclaim — he confronted many obstacles in his profession and life. In 1776, he was a number one candidate to take over as music director of the Paris Opera, however a gaggle of singers wrote on to Queen Marie Antoinette (who was herself a scholar of Joseph’s), insisting that they’d not take orders from a mixed-race man. The queen didn’t instantly intervene, nor did she defend her tutor, and information of the petition was ample 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 realize widespread fame and demanding reward.
“One of his shut associates wrote a biographical discover a number of a long time after his demise and, not like different extra well-known composers of this era, it’s extremely clear that music was only one aspect of Bologne’s private {and professional} identification. His good friend praises his upstanding character and his accomplishments as a swordsman, a dancer, a swimmer, an ice skater, and so forth. It’s really extraordinary,” music professor Julia Doe advised The Guardian.
“Chevalier” marks the primary main on-screen depiction of this outstanding life, nevertheless it appears unlikely to be the final.