Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Yeah.

I'm really interested in the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologna.

And I did a project where I took, I think, 300 young children from different primary schools across South London, came to the Royal Festival Hall, I think, or maybe it was Queen Elizabeth Hall, one of those South Bank Centre concert halls.

And they'd written, I'd helped them write pieces about the Chevalier.

I've just, you know, last weekend, the BBC Concert Orchestra were recording my composition, Return to History, which is all... my kind of answer for this kid, which is, I'm going to help you return this person to history, start conversations about him, let the world know about him.

And yeah, so it's a, it's a real, it's a really big thing for me.

And so for people who haven't heard of Chevalier de Saint-Georges, can you tell us a little bit more about him? Like what era were we talking about?

So he was born in 1745 on the island of Guadeloupe.

As the months passed, the revolution's promise of racial equality began to pick up steam.

As an officer, Alex was second in command to the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a then-famous classical composer, who likewise had been born to a rich white dad and enslaved mother.

Their Légion Noir was the first all-black fighting unit in Europe, an elite regiment of swordsmen prepared to die for the revolution.

Mostly, though, it was their enemies who did the dying.

I'm Tara White from Bettendorf, Iowa, and WVIK is my NPR station.

Now a symphony concertante in C major by Joseph Bologna, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

We'll hear the Pilsen Radio Orchestra with conductor Frantasek Preissler Jr. and violin soloist Yuri Zilik and viola soloist Jan Motlik.

Thank you.

¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ Thank you.

Thank you.

Symphony Concertante in C Major by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, also known as Joseph Bologna.

We heard violinist Yuri Zilik and violist Jan Matlik, along with the Pilsen Radio Orchestra, under the direction of Frantasek Preissler, Jr. You're tuning in to Anytime Classical, a production of Classical Music Indie.

An old woman in mourning silk, foil in hand, beating young men half her age with all the neat economy of someone who has been doing this for fifty years.

On the 9th of April, 1787, she fences at Carlton House before the Prince of Wales against the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the great black swordsman and composer from Guadeloupe and one of the finest fencers in Europe.

There is a painting of it.

She is fifty-nine.

Bridgette Haudenberg was at the harpsichord and Jean-Jacques Cantorov on violin in an aria on variations in G

by Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

Now music of the 20th century Italian composer, Ottorino Respighi, who drew inspiration from the French Baroque, specifically music of Jean-Philippe Rameau and Bernardo Paschini that imitated birds.

He wrote this tone poem called The Birds in 1928.