 WILL-FM’s
Roger Cooper Profiles Larger-than-Life Composer Who Fought
in French Revolution
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Classically Black:
Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
WILL-FM host
Roger Cooper’s newest Classically Black program
looks at the life and music of 18th-century
composer Joseph Boulogne, a gifted violinist who was music
director for French Queen Marie Antoinette, fought in the
French Revolution, and gained international stature for
his swordsmanship.
Classically
Black: Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
examines the composer’s colorful life. The son of a
black slave and her white plantation owner on the
Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, he was allowed to take his
father’s name and became known from a young age as
Chevalier, or knight, of Saint-Georges.
One writer
said that if the flamboyant Boulogne had not actually
existed, he would have been created by Alexandre Dumas,
author of The Three Musketeers. However, said
Cooper, there’s a possibility that tales of Boulogne’s
brilliant swordplay actually inspired Dumas’ writings.
“The father of Alexandre Dumas served under Boulogne in
the French Revolution,” Cooper said.
Boulogne also excelled at boxing, horseback riding,
hunting, skating and dancing. Historians recall him as
vivacious and quick to anger, but also make note of his
tender and gentle nature, Cooper said.
Although Boulogne had opportunities not afforded most
black men of his day, he did experience discrimination,
Cooper said. In 1775, King Louis XVI named him director of
the Royal Academy of Music, later known as the Paris
Opera. But the king withdrew the appointment after
opposition from female artists in the opera who didn’t
want to be “subjected to the orders of a mulatto.”
Cooper said many American black musicians he has
profiled in the series found encouragement and training
through the church. “It was different for the Chevalier
Des Saint-Georges, and the English composer I profiled
last year, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. They were encouraged
by their families and their schooling. They faced
discrimination, but not to the extent the American
composers did,” he said.
The program is one in a series of programs in
Cooper’s Classically Black series showcasing
outstanding classical musicians of African descent. Public
Radio International will distribute the program public
radio stations around the country.
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