A composer, a conductor, and a swordsman

By Anna Schwartz

A composer, a conductor, and a swordsman. Not every day would you experience those three careers in one lifetime. Chevalier de Saint-Georges, however, was one of those lucky folks (depending on your definition of “lucky”). Born on Christmas Day in 1745, he is perhaps one of the most fascinating figures in musical history.

With the French nobleman Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges as his father, Saint-Georges’s mother was Creole and one of many slaves on his father’s plantation. Unconventionally for the time, instead of being pushed aside as the bastard child of wealth, Saint-Georges started his education at the age of eight at one of the finest academies in France. He began fencing at a young age and, at seventeen, participated in and won a duel instigated by King Louis XVI that bestowed on him the title “gendarme de la garde du roi,” or officer of the king’s guard.  Not too bad of a career track for a teenager!

While Saint-Georges was a renowned swordsman, perhaps what we know him best for is his outstanding musical prowess. Hidden from the history books for centuries, Saint-Georges is finally starting to “crawl his way out of being a curiosity” (Marcos Balter, professor of musical composition at Columbia University). Although his recognition is still severely under where it should rightly be in our body of performed classical music, the work of Saint-Georges is slowly becoming more mainstream among orchestras of today.

What does this mean for our chilly, wintery concert? It means that you can look forward to the delightfully warm tones of Saint-Georges’ Overture to L’Amant Anonyme (The Anonymous Lover). Let’s take a brief dive into this piece: first, what is an overture? An overture is simply a piece at the beginning of a musical story (whether that be an opera, ballet, or something similar). It sets the character and mood of the tale to come, including what kind of music we can expect to hear. This opera is a comedic love story centred around a lively young woman who is seduced by an outpouring of claims of love from her dear friend Valcour. The catch? All these claims are anonymous, and the awkward Valcour spends the entirety of the opera attempting to reveal his true identity. It is a delightfully charming story of young love, and you will be able to enjoy the lovely musical tones of a man whose work is finally beginning to get the recognition it deserves.

We look forward to seeing you at the concert!

At the Vondráček Plays Mozart & Rachmaninoff concert on January 18, the WSO will perform Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’s Overture to L’Amant anonyme

Anna Schwartz (she/her) is a multidisciplinary writer, educator, and conductor. She has written and spoken about the benefits of music and being a part of music-making throughout Manitoba and Northern Ontario.