June 6, 2023 • 28 mins
In the late 1700s, one man became a celebrated fixture of Parisian salon culture: he was a prodigy fencer, and then a brilliant composer and violinists. He befriended Marie Antoinette and lead one of the city's most famous orchestras. And he was the son of an enslaved woman, fighting against the stigma of his skin color in a world where it made him hyper-visible but didn't let him be truly seen.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. As the
sun dimmed over the River Seine, Paris's best and brightest
(00:23):
were gathering for a duel. Towering wigs and tailored suits
poured out of horse drawn carriages onto cobblestone streets, each
new arrival with one name on their lips, the Chevalier
de Saint George. By seventeen seventy five, tales of the
(00:45):
Saint Georges fencing prowess had spread far beyond France's borders,
though tonight he stood before his opponent not with a sword,
but with a beau. More specific, a beau and a violin.
The audience gathered outside the hall for a performance by
(01:08):
one of Paris's premier orchestras, the concer de Amateur, who,
contrary to the way their name sounds, were anything but amateur.
The orchestra was composed of the city's foremost professional and
semi professional musicians, born from within the carefully curated ranks
(01:31):
of the city's social elite. Saint George had initially entered
into the amateurs upon his reputation playing salons across Paris.
But in just four short years he had worked his
way up from mere well amateur to the director of
the entire ensemble, and tonight he was debuting his newest
(01:56):
composition that had the whole city of buzz, a symphony concertante.
The late eighteenth century was the height of the classical
music era, and symphony concertante were just one of the
many innovations made within the genre during this time. Unlike
(02:17):
a typical orchestral performance with an ensemble supporting a single soloist,
these concerts featured not one, but two soloists, in this
case violinists playing off each other in tandem, each almost
trying to outplay the other, as if dueling within the
(02:41):
piece itself. If you're still having a hard time wrapping
your head around the concept, just think of the movie
eight Mile with eminem or on the complete opposite side
of the film spectrum, the riff off scene in Pitch Perfect.
Each performer is meant to enhance the overall piece, but
(03:02):
at its heart, the dual soloists brings something to the
performance that a typical concert lacks. Competition. Fortunately, for Saint George,
competition was something of a second nature for him, it
almost had to be. The audience may have quieted their
(03:24):
chatter as Saint George and his company took to the
stage and began tuning their instruments, but their hush did
untquell the skeptical glances and whispers of condescension pressing toward
him as the minutes until the performance began continued to
(03:45):
count down. The truth was the Symphony Concertant may have
been designed as a competition against another violinist, but Saint
George's real opponent remained what it had always been his
entire life, his audience. It would have been enough to
have been a wealthy, attractive, renowned swordsman turned professional violinist
(04:11):
directing one of Paris's finest orchestras, all before the age
of thirty five, but of course that wasn't what the
audience saw. Instead, the reason that the audience was so
skeptical of Saint George's success was not because they were
wary of his talent or success, but because of the
(04:33):
color of his skin. Born to a French plantation owner
and an enslaved woman in the French colony of Guadelupe,
his deep brown complexion held more than the narrative the
audience consciously or unconsciously projected onto him. Some of his audience,
(04:54):
no doubt, thought that his quote exotic background added to
the theatric of it all, a footnote to an anecdote
they would go on to tell at their next dinner party.
But for the Chevalier de Saint George, the concertint allowed
him to do what he did best. He boldly entered
(05:14):
an arena into which he was expected to conform, and
proceeded to beat them all at their own game. I'm
Danish schwartz and this is noble blood. Our story begins
(05:36):
in seventeen fifty three with a man and his son
on a ship headed into port off the coast of France.
The man's name was George Boulogne de Saint George, a
wealthy plantation owner on the small island of Guadalupe, a
French colony mostly known for their sugar exports. His son, Joseph,
(06:00):
was accompanying his father to France to receive an education
he would have been otherwise unable to receive were he
to stay on his home island. It wasn't due to
the lack of schooling available on the island, but rather
due to the nature of the boy's birth. Joseph Bolonne
(06:21):
was the son of an enslaved woman named Nano, who
his father, George, had been having an affair with for
nearly a decade. I want to make it absolutely clear,
though George seemed to genuinely care for Nanon and for
his son Joseph, this in no way made Nanon's relationship
(06:42):
with George consensual. In addition to the fact that at
the time of Joseph's birth in seventeen forty five, Nana
was just sixteen years old, barely more than a child herself,
George was in a position of power over her that
made even the question of consent just well out of
the question. But power dynamics aside, it was evident that
(07:06):
George loved his son, and upon realizing that Joseph would
never receive an equal education in Guadalupe, where mixed race
children were unquestionably ostracized within the community, he chose to
accompany his son to France to provide him an education
fit for a gentleman. As I'm sure you can imagine,
(07:29):
this was not a common practice within the majority of
mixed race children in the French island. Colonies. In sixteen
eighty five, King Louis the fifteenth enacted what became known
as the Code Noir, a decree initially written to prevent
enslaved women from being forced into sexual slavery by their owners.
(07:55):
Over the years, the Code Noir was largely ignored in
the colonies as there was no way to consistently police
the practice, leading to a large growth in the mixed
race population among the island colonies. However, one piece of
the Code Noir that was largely followed was the requirement
of the mother to take care of the resulting child,
(08:18):
meaning the mixed race child was more often than not
relegated to a life of indentured servitude or slavery as well.
George obviously didn't want such a life for his son,
and with anti quote Mulatto sentiment on the rise in
the colonies, he made the decision to take Joseph to France,
(08:39):
where stigmas against mixed race children were, while still existent,
actually not nearly as restrictive as they were in the colonies.
There's little known about Joseph's early schooling, but considering his
musical prowess later in life, it's assumed that in addition
to reading and write, he was also tutored in violin
(09:03):
and fencing, the latter of which became the primary focus
of his studies when, at the age of thirteen, he
was enrolled in the Mapre de la Boissi Fencing Academy
in Paris. It was here Joseph's reputation would begin to
precede him, as his success in school labeled him not
(09:25):
just as the quote Mulado student, but as a fencing prodigy.
It's also worth realizing his success as a fencer and
later as a musician was likely born out of necessity,
thrust into a society that immediately projected its own prejudices
(09:45):
on him due to the color of his skin. Like
so many other immigrants and people of color living under
power structures made predominantly by and four white people, Joseph
had two choices, be excellent or be nothing at all.
He may have had his father's money and connections, but
(10:07):
as we will later find out, even that was never
a guarantee. His skin would always be the first thing
people saw, and without his father there, he was just
a mixed race black man in a predominantly white world
with little to know opportunities making a name for himself
(10:28):
was never a choice, it was necessity. And so, with
the faces of the enslaved people who shared his skin
on the island of Guadaloupe, ever likely present in the
back of his mind, Joseph became excellent.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Quote. Joseph made such rapid progress that at fifteen he
was beating the strongest fighters. At seventeen he acquired the
greatest bed imaginable. Yet he accomplished all that with a
sweetness of manner that charmed even those among his peers
who had good reason to envy his success. End quote.
(11:13):
These were the words of the son of La Bois Roye,
and by seventeen Joseph's reputation as a fencing virtuoso extended
far beyond Paris. But of course that meant that the
prejudice against him spread far as well. In seventeen sixty two,
(11:34):
fencing master Alexandra Picard de Bremont went on record disparaging Joseph,
calling him quote the mulado of La Boissarrie, as if
he were the academy's mere side show attraction rather than
a talented fencer. Picard was most likely calling out Joseph
(11:54):
to promote his own fencing school, which he had just
obtained his license for, but the words were enough to
spur Joseph into action, challenging the master to a duel
when he was just the age of seventeen. Picard readily
accepted the challenge no doubt, discounting young Joseph based on
(12:15):
his age and his skin color. What Picard was not
expecting was to lose. On the day of the event,
hundreds of spectators gathered to witness the now widely publicized display.
Bedding pools were the talk of the crowd, and each
side was also most likely loudly sharing their opinions on
(12:38):
the recent decree by French Attorney General Guillame Ponce de
la Grove to register all blacks and quote mulattoes in France.
Tension hung thick in the air as the two men
took their places before their audience, but the strict moment
of decorum was short lived. Joseph, known for his incredible
(13:00):
speed and swift attacks, lunged at his opponent, and before
the audience could even let go of the breath they
had collectively been holding before the duel began, the young
student Quote, whose attacks were a perpetual series of hits
beat him with ease, end quote, excellence or nothing. For
(13:23):
his victory, Joseph's father bought his son a horse and buggy,
essentially the equivalent of gifting his son a new car
for his win. From there, Joseph's reputation only continued to climb.
Some scholars believe that even the king may have had
his hand in the bedding pool that day, since soon
(13:45):
after the duel and Joseph's subsequent graduation, he was giving
a position in the King's life guard, and with this
position came the title we know Joseph Bolone as today
the Chevalier de Saint George. Following his graduation from fencing academy,
(14:12):
San George settled into his new life in Paris as
part of the King's guard. Unlike the guard decorps, whose
job it was to be stationed at gates, the Gendame
du bois were largely ceremonial guards who would escort their
Majesty's carriage only on special occasions. To supplement his time
(14:34):
on the King's guard, Saint George continued his training with
a reputation to uphold. He didn't want to fall into obscurity.
But in addition to fencing, Joseph began attending salons in Paris,
which is where he would make his first musical debut
into society. His prowess with a sword seemed to carry
(14:57):
over to the violin, and it wasn't long before the
whole of Paris took notice. He became the darling of
the most prestigious Parisian salons, and soon the guest of
many of Paris's most prestigious beds. He was no longer
the young boy who had first sailed over from Guadeloupe,
(15:18):
but he was a rather striking young man whose rigorous
training had him filling out the tailored suits he wore
around the city. The confidence with which he carried himself
only added to his charm, and the women around him
were quick to take notice. At this point in time
(15:39):
in Paris, marriage wasn synonymous with monogamy, only discretion. As such,
being an attractive and famously talented swordsman slash violin prodigy,
Saint George was never short on admirers. Saint George was
reported to have had numerous affairs throughout his life, including
(16:01):
one in the late seventeen eighties with none other than
noble blood alum and famous adulteress, Lady Seymour Worseley. But
the most notable affair among them was with a dancer
for the Academy Royale de Musique who went by the
name La Guiemins. Though as will come to see, it
(16:23):
wasn't so much their affair that would go on to
affect Joseph's career, but rather his denial of her advances,
but we'll get into that later. While he was charming
his way across the city's most prestigious salons, soon Parisian
aristocrats gave way to world renowned musicians eager to gain
(16:46):
his favor. Eventually he would be introduced to Francoise Joseph Gossek,
who would go on to become Joseph's compositional teacher and
ultimately his key into the Concertieaure. When Goseck founded the
Amateur in seventeen sixty nine, he asked Saint George to
(17:08):
come on as one of the violin chairs in the
semi professional ensemble. By seventeen seventy three, when Goseque decided
to retire as director, Saint George had already risen to
first chair and it was without question that he would
become his successor. During his tenure as director of the
(17:30):
Concert d' amateur, Saint George would compose more than nine
violin concertos and would lead the orchestra to stretch the
idea of what classical music could be. His symphony concertante
with dueling violin soloists, broadened the horizons of the genre,
(17:50):
so much so that he would eventually capture the attention
of perhaps my favorite noble blood, Royal Marie Antoinette. As
we all know, following the death of King Louis the
fifteenth in seventeen seventy four, King Louis the sixteenth ascended
the throne with Marie Antoinette at his side. Though she
(18:15):
was mostly relegated to their palace in Versailles, the queen
was more than familiar with goings on among culture in Paris,
so when Joseph Boulone, the Chevalier de Saint George, who
led Paris's most popular orchestra, was proposed as the new
musical director of the Paris Opera, he seemed the obvious choice.
(18:39):
Of course, nothing was ever that simple. Remember La Guiemin,
the rumored jilted lover of Saint George, while she, along
with two other dancers from the Academy Royal de Musique,
petitioned Marie Antoinette, telling the Queen quote their honor and
their delicate conn could never allow them to submit to
(19:02):
the orders of a mulatto. End in the Parisian salons,
Saint George's skin tone was often considered an afterthought to
those around him. His talent and charm spoke more than
enough for itself, but at the same time, he was
never a suitable candidate for marriage, only for trysts behind
(19:27):
closed doors. He was never granted entrance into the most
exclusive rooms in all of Paris. People clamored to hear
his concertos, Yet his admission into society was only contingent
on his excellence and performance, and even then it wasn't
(19:47):
enough to be given a position he rightfully deserved. In
order to diffuse the scandal of whether Saint George would
become the music director of the Paris Opera, King Louis
the sixteenth opted to turn the Paris Opera over to
the City of Paris. In short, deep unplug the Nintendo
(20:08):
if You're losing the game solution, handing the reins over
to his intendant of light entertainment. But for Saint George,
the damage was already done. Though he continued to direct
the concert to amateurs, the loss of the Paris Opera
would stay with him, even as the straits of Paris
(20:29):
began to disintegrate around him. In the wake of the
scandal with the Paris Opera. Marie Antoinette was not so
quick to let Saint George fade away. Instead, she opted
to hold private celons in Versailles, where she would invite
(20:49):
him and the most notable musicians in Paris to play
for her, oftentimes with her accompanying them on the piano forte,
and in return, Marie would often attend performances of the amateurs,
using her power to bring attention and prestige to the enterprise.
She came so often that the orchestra began wearing their
(21:12):
finest clothes for every concert because they never knew when
she might show up. But Saint George was not so
quick as to put the opera music director scandal behind him. Instead,
he seemingly used his anger to fuel the next portion
of his career writing opera. Unfortunately for him, his next
(21:35):
composition wouldn't be destined for the great success he was
accustomed to. His first opera, Ernestine, premiered on July nineteenth,
seventeen seventy seven. It subsequently closed on July nineteenth, seventeen
seventy seven, lasting only one night. Saint George's first opera
(21:57):
was criticized by the press for its sub par libretto, which,
to be fair, Saint George did not write, but still
a flop was a flop, but that didn't stop him
from writing. The failure did provide him with one new opportunity.
The Marquise de Montesson, the wife of the Duke of Orleans,
(22:19):
was interested in funding her own private theater, and after
seeing Ernestine, she realized that she wanted the Chevalier de
Saint George for the job. It may seem peculiar to
pursue a composure of a failed opera to write for
her theater, but by seventeen seventy seven, Joseph's father had died,
(22:40):
and despite him leaving a substantial amount of money to
both his son and the Chevalier's mother, Nana, the inheritance
ultimately found its way almost entirely into the pockets of
Joseph's legitimate half sister, so on the heels of Joseph's
fail Montesant likely knew that he was in no position
(23:05):
to turn down her offer, which meant that she had
a new music director for the Theatre Montrescent. As it happened,
Saint George's second opera, La Chase, which had its first
performance to an invited audience at the Theatron Montressin, was
a declared hit, despite only running for four performances, for
(23:29):
as it seemed, was better than one though, and Saint
George would go on to write at least one more
opera before disaster would once again strike. In seventeen eighty five,
the Duke of Orleans died, which meant Saint George was
once again without an employer. But during his years in
(23:52):
the Orleans Fold, Saint George had befriended the Duke's son, Philippe,
who was now the new Duke. Upon seeing his friend
without sufficient employment, the new Duke decided to invite Saint
George to London to meet the Prince of Wales, the
oldest son of King George the Third future King George
(24:13):
the Fourth, who had heard word of this superb fencer
slash violinist Saint George Son George readily agreed, and the
Duke and Saint George swiftly made their way across the
Channel to England. But unbeknownst to the Chevalier, Philippe had
more than one reason that he was bringing the famed
(24:36):
Chevalier de Saint George to London. This concludes part one
of our two part series on the incredibly exciting life
of the Chevalier de Saint George. But stick around after
a brief sponsor break to hear about another famous classical
(24:59):
musician who may have known Joseph Blonne, the Chevalier de
Saint George. For those of you classical music officionados out
there who may have been putting mental timelines together throughout
(25:20):
this episode, first I applaud you on your very specific
historical knowledge, and second will confirm yes, one Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart was indeed in Paris at the exact same time
as Joseph Balone, the Chevalier de Saint George in seventeen
seventy eight. In fact, between July fifth and September eleventh
(25:45):
of that year, the two were living under the very
same roof at the Montessons mansion on the Chasset d'antan.
Yet unfortunately, despite their proximity, there's actually no i'h written
a record of the two ever meeting during this time. Still,
if you want, this is me giving you permission to
(26:07):
write your own imagined classical music version of that musical
million dollar quartet. San George actually did happen to meet
Mozart when he was just ten years old in seventeen
sixty six, but some scholars theorize Mozart patently did not
want to meet San George during their stays in Paris
(26:29):
in seventeen seventy eight because he was envious of his success.
I will say that Mozart's mother had just died in
the beginning of July in seventeen seventy eight, so he
may have just been completely in mourning. In letters from
Mozart's father, he begs his son to attend a performance
of the concerd'emtur, but there's no record of Mozart fulfilling
(26:53):
his father's wishes. We will most likely never know if
there was a feud between the two legendary musicians or
some hidden, off the record friendship. You never know, but
musical historians have long questioned why the villain in Mozart's
opera The Magic Flute is meant to be portrayed by
(27:15):
a black man. Could it have been a lingering jealousy
that fueled his work? Maybe? But I'll end with one
closing thought. Today, when referencing San George, many call him
the black Mozart. But when you consider the success that
Saint George was having in Paris at the time Mozart arrived,
(27:37):
who is to say that Mozart isn't the white Chevalier
de Saint George. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio
and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is
created and hosted by me Dana Schwortz, with additional writing
(28:01):
and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender,
and Lori Goodman. The show is edited and produced by
Noemi Griffin and rima Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh
Thain and executive producers Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
(28:23):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. As the
sun dimmed over the River Seine, Paris's best and brightest
(00:23):
were gathering for a duel. Towering wigs and tailored suits
poured out of horse drawn carriages onto cobblestone streets, each
new arrival with one name on their lips, the Chevalier
de Saint George. By seventeen seventy five, tales of the
(00:45):
Saint Georges fencing prowess had spread far beyond France's borders,
though tonight he stood before his opponent not with a sword,
but with a beau. More specific, a beau and a violin.
The audience gathered outside the hall for a performance by
(01:08):
one of Paris's premier orchestras, the concer de Amateur, who,
contrary to the way their name sounds, were anything but amateur.
The orchestra was composed of the city's foremost professional and
semi professional musicians, born from within the carefully curated ranks
(01:31):
of the city's social elite. Saint George had initially entered
into the amateurs upon his reputation playing salons across Paris.
But in just four short years he had worked his
way up from mere well amateur to the director of
the entire ensemble, and tonight he was debuting his newest
(01:56):
composition that had the whole city of buzz, a symphony concertante.
The late eighteenth century was the height of the classical
music era, and symphony concertante were just one of the
many innovations made within the genre during this time. Unlike
(02:17):
a typical orchestral performance with an ensemble supporting a single soloist,
these concerts featured not one, but two soloists, in this
case violinists playing off each other in tandem, each almost
trying to outplay the other, as if dueling within the
(02:41):
piece itself. If you're still having a hard time wrapping
your head around the concept, just think of the movie
eight Mile with eminem or on the complete opposite side
of the film spectrum, the riff off scene in Pitch Perfect.
Each performer is meant to enhance the overall piece, but
(03:02):
at its heart, the dual soloists brings something to the
performance that a typical concert lacks. Competition. Fortunately, for Saint George,
competition was something of a second nature for him, it
almost had to be. The audience may have quieted their
(03:24):
chatter as Saint George and his company took to the
stage and began tuning their instruments, but their hush did
untquell the skeptical glances and whispers of condescension pressing toward
him as the minutes until the performance began continued to
(03:45):
count down. The truth was the Symphony Concertant may have
been designed as a competition against another violinist, but Saint
George's real opponent remained what it had always been his
entire life, his audience. It would have been enough to
have been a wealthy, attractive, renowned swordsman turned professional violinist
(04:11):
directing one of Paris's finest orchestras, all before the age
of thirty five, but of course that wasn't what the
audience saw. Instead, the reason that the audience was so
skeptical of Saint George's success was not because they were
wary of his talent or success, but because of the
(04:33):
color of his skin. Born to a French plantation owner
and an enslaved woman in the French colony of Guadelupe,
his deep brown complexion held more than the narrative the
audience consciously or unconsciously projected onto him. Some of his audience,
(04:54):
no doubt, thought that his quote exotic background added to
the theatric of it all, a footnote to an anecdote
they would go on to tell at their next dinner party.
But for the Chevalier de Saint George, the concertint allowed
him to do what he did best. He boldly entered
(05:14):
an arena into which he was expected to conform, and
proceeded to beat them all at their own game. I'm
Danish schwartz and this is noble blood. Our story begins
(05:36):
in seventeen fifty three with a man and his son
on a ship headed into port off the coast of France.
The man's name was George Boulogne de Saint George, a
wealthy plantation owner on the small island of Guadalupe, a
French colony mostly known for their sugar exports. His son, Joseph,
(06:00):
was accompanying his father to France to receive an education
he would have been otherwise unable to receive were he
to stay on his home island. It wasn't due to
the lack of schooling available on the island, but rather
due to the nature of the boy's birth. Joseph Bolonne
(06:21):
was the son of an enslaved woman named Nano, who
his father, George, had been having an affair with for
nearly a decade. I want to make it absolutely clear,
though George seemed to genuinely care for Nanon and for
his son Joseph, this in no way made Nanon's relationship
(06:42):
with George consensual. In addition to the fact that at
the time of Joseph's birth in seventeen forty five, Nana
was just sixteen years old, barely more than a child herself,
George was in a position of power over her that
made even the question of consent just well out of
the question. But power dynamics aside, it was evident that
(07:06):
George loved his son, and upon realizing that Joseph would
never receive an equal education in Guadalupe, where mixed race
children were unquestionably ostracized within the community, he chose to
accompany his son to France to provide him an education
fit for a gentleman. As I'm sure you can imagine,
(07:29):
this was not a common practice within the majority of
mixed race children in the French island. Colonies. In sixteen
eighty five, King Louis the fifteenth enacted what became known
as the Code Noir, a decree initially written to prevent
enslaved women from being forced into sexual slavery by their owners.
(07:55):
Over the years, the Code Noir was largely ignored in
the colonies as there was no way to consistently police
the practice, leading to a large growth in the mixed
race population among the island colonies. However, one piece of
the Code Noir that was largely followed was the requirement
of the mother to take care of the resulting child,
(08:18):
meaning the mixed race child was more often than not
relegated to a life of indentured servitude or slavery as well.
George obviously didn't want such a life for his son,
and with anti quote Mulatto sentiment on the rise in
the colonies, he made the decision to take Joseph to France,
(08:39):
where stigmas against mixed race children were, while still existent,
actually not nearly as restrictive as they were in the colonies.
There's little known about Joseph's early schooling, but considering his
musical prowess later in life, it's assumed that in addition
to reading and write, he was also tutored in violin
(09:03):
and fencing, the latter of which became the primary focus
of his studies when, at the age of thirteen, he
was enrolled in the Mapre de la Boissi Fencing Academy
in Paris. It was here Joseph's reputation would begin to
precede him, as his success in school labeled him not
(09:25):
just as the quote Mulado student, but as a fencing prodigy.
It's also worth realizing his success as a fencer and
later as a musician was likely born out of necessity,
thrust into a society that immediately projected its own prejudices
(09:45):
on him due to the color of his skin. Like
so many other immigrants and people of color living under
power structures made predominantly by and four white people, Joseph
had two choices, be excellent or be nothing at all.
He may have had his father's money and connections, but
(10:07):
as we will later find out, even that was never
a guarantee. His skin would always be the first thing
people saw, and without his father there, he was just
a mixed race black man in a predominantly white world
with little to know opportunities making a name for himself
(10:28):
was never a choice, it was necessity. And so, with
the faces of the enslaved people who shared his skin
on the island of Guadaloupe, ever likely present in the
back of his mind, Joseph became excellent.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Quote. Joseph made such rapid progress that at fifteen he
was beating the strongest fighters. At seventeen he acquired the
greatest bed imaginable. Yet he accomplished all that with a
sweetness of manner that charmed even those among his peers
who had good reason to envy his success. End quote.
(11:13):
These were the words of the son of La Bois Roye,
and by seventeen Joseph's reputation as a fencing virtuoso extended
far beyond Paris. But of course that meant that the
prejudice against him spread far as well. In seventeen sixty two,
(11:34):
fencing master Alexandra Picard de Bremont went on record disparaging Joseph,
calling him quote the mulado of La Boissarrie, as if
he were the academy's mere side show attraction rather than
a talented fencer. Picard was most likely calling out Joseph
(11:54):
to promote his own fencing school, which he had just
obtained his license for, but the words were enough to
spur Joseph into action, challenging the master to a duel
when he was just the age of seventeen. Picard readily
accepted the challenge no doubt, discounting young Joseph based on
(12:15):
his age and his skin color. What Picard was not
expecting was to lose. On the day of the event,
hundreds of spectators gathered to witness the now widely publicized display.
Bedding pools were the talk of the crowd, and each
side was also most likely loudly sharing their opinions on
(12:38):
the recent decree by French Attorney General Guillame Ponce de
la Grove to register all blacks and quote mulattoes in France.
Tension hung thick in the air as the two men
took their places before their audience, but the strict moment
of decorum was short lived. Joseph, known for his incredible
(13:00):
speed and swift attacks, lunged at his opponent, and before
the audience could even let go of the breath they
had collectively been holding before the duel began, the young
student Quote, whose attacks were a perpetual series of hits
beat him with ease, end quote, excellence or nothing. For
(13:23):
his victory, Joseph's father bought his son a horse and buggy,
essentially the equivalent of gifting his son a new car
for his win. From there, Joseph's reputation only continued to climb.
Some scholars believe that even the king may have had
his hand in the bedding pool that day, since soon
(13:45):
after the duel and Joseph's subsequent graduation, he was giving
a position in the King's life guard, and with this
position came the title we know Joseph Bolone as today
the Chevalier de Saint George. Following his graduation from fencing academy,
(14:12):
San George settled into his new life in Paris as
part of the King's guard. Unlike the guard decorps, whose
job it was to be stationed at gates, the Gendame
du bois were largely ceremonial guards who would escort their
Majesty's carriage only on special occasions. To supplement his time
(14:34):
on the King's guard, Saint George continued his training with
a reputation to uphold. He didn't want to fall into obscurity.
But in addition to fencing, Joseph began attending salons in Paris,
which is where he would make his first musical debut
into society. His prowess with a sword seemed to carry
(14:57):
over to the violin, and it wasn't long before the
whole of Paris took notice. He became the darling of
the most prestigious Parisian salons, and soon the guest of
many of Paris's most prestigious beds. He was no longer
the young boy who had first sailed over from Guadeloupe,
(15:18):
but he was a rather striking young man whose rigorous
training had him filling out the tailored suits he wore
around the city. The confidence with which he carried himself
only added to his charm, and the women around him
were quick to take notice. At this point in time
(15:39):
in Paris, marriage wasn synonymous with monogamy, only discretion. As such,
being an attractive and famously talented swordsman slash violin prodigy,
Saint George was never short on admirers. Saint George was
reported to have had numerous affairs throughout his life, including
(16:01):
one in the late seventeen eighties with none other than
noble blood alum and famous adulteress, Lady Seymour Worseley. But
the most notable affair among them was with a dancer
for the Academy Royale de Musique who went by the
name La Guiemins. Though as will come to see, it
(16:23):
wasn't so much their affair that would go on to
affect Joseph's career, but rather his denial of her advances,
but we'll get into that later. While he was charming
his way across the city's most prestigious salons, soon Parisian
aristocrats gave way to world renowned musicians eager to gain
(16:46):
his favor. Eventually he would be introduced to Francoise Joseph Gossek,
who would go on to become Joseph's compositional teacher and
ultimately his key into the Concertieaure. When Goseck founded the
Amateur in seventeen sixty nine, he asked Saint George to
(17:08):
come on as one of the violin chairs in the
semi professional ensemble. By seventeen seventy three, when Goseque decided
to retire as director, Saint George had already risen to
first chair and it was without question that he would
become his successor. During his tenure as director of the
(17:30):
Concert d' amateur, Saint George would compose more than nine
violin concertos and would lead the orchestra to stretch the
idea of what classical music could be. His symphony concertante
with dueling violin soloists, broadened the horizons of the genre,
(17:50):
so much so that he would eventually capture the attention
of perhaps my favorite noble blood, Royal Marie Antoinette. As
we all know, following the death of King Louis the
fifteenth in seventeen seventy four, King Louis the sixteenth ascended
the throne with Marie Antoinette at his side. Though she
(18:15):
was mostly relegated to their palace in Versailles, the queen
was more than familiar with goings on among culture in Paris,
so when Joseph Boulone, the Chevalier de Saint George, who
led Paris's most popular orchestra, was proposed as the new
musical director of the Paris Opera, he seemed the obvious choice.
(18:39):
Of course, nothing was ever that simple. Remember La Guiemin,
the rumored jilted lover of Saint George, while she, along
with two other dancers from the Academy Royal de Musique,
petitioned Marie Antoinette, telling the Queen quote their honor and
their delicate conn could never allow them to submit to
(19:02):
the orders of a mulatto. End in the Parisian salons,
Saint George's skin tone was often considered an afterthought to
those around him. His talent and charm spoke more than
enough for itself, but at the same time, he was
never a suitable candidate for marriage, only for trysts behind
(19:27):
closed doors. He was never granted entrance into the most
exclusive rooms in all of Paris. People clamored to hear
his concertos, Yet his admission into society was only contingent
on his excellence and performance, and even then it wasn't
(19:47):
enough to be given a position he rightfully deserved. In
order to diffuse the scandal of whether Saint George would
become the music director of the Paris Opera, King Louis
the sixteenth opted to turn the Paris Opera over to
the City of Paris. In short, deep unplug the Nintendo
(20:08):
if You're losing the game solution, handing the reins over
to his intendant of light entertainment. But for Saint George,
the damage was already done. Though he continued to direct
the concert to amateurs, the loss of the Paris Opera
would stay with him, even as the straits of Paris
(20:29):
began to disintegrate around him. In the wake of the
scandal with the Paris Opera. Marie Antoinette was not so
quick to let Saint George fade away. Instead, she opted
to hold private celons in Versailles, where she would invite
(20:49):
him and the most notable musicians in Paris to play
for her, oftentimes with her accompanying them on the piano forte,
and in return, Marie would often attend performances of the amateurs,
using her power to bring attention and prestige to the enterprise.
She came so often that the orchestra began wearing their
(21:12):
finest clothes for every concert because they never knew when
she might show up. But Saint George was not so
quick as to put the opera music director scandal behind him. Instead,
he seemingly used his anger to fuel the next portion
of his career writing opera. Unfortunately for him, his next
(21:35):
composition wouldn't be destined for the great success he was
accustomed to. His first opera, Ernestine, premiered on July nineteenth,
seventeen seventy seven. It subsequently closed on July nineteenth, seventeen
seventy seven, lasting only one night. Saint George's first opera
(21:57):
was criticized by the press for its sub par libretto, which,
to be fair, Saint George did not write, but still
a flop was a flop, but that didn't stop him
from writing. The failure did provide him with one new opportunity.
The Marquise de Montesson, the wife of the Duke of Orleans,
(22:19):
was interested in funding her own private theater, and after
seeing Ernestine, she realized that she wanted the Chevalier de
Saint George for the job. It may seem peculiar to
pursue a composure of a failed opera to write for
her theater, but by seventeen seventy seven, Joseph's father had died,
(22:40):
and despite him leaving a substantial amount of money to
both his son and the Chevalier's mother, Nana, the inheritance
ultimately found its way almost entirely into the pockets of
Joseph's legitimate half sister, so on the heels of Joseph's
fail Montesant likely knew that he was in no position
(23:05):
to turn down her offer, which meant that she had
a new music director for the Theatre Montrescent. As it happened,
Saint George's second opera, La Chase, which had its first
performance to an invited audience at the Theatron Montressin, was
a declared hit, despite only running for four performances, for
(23:29):
as it seemed, was better than one though, and Saint
George would go on to write at least one more
opera before disaster would once again strike. In seventeen eighty five,
the Duke of Orleans died, which meant Saint George was
once again without an employer. But during his years in
(23:52):
the Orleans Fold, Saint George had befriended the Duke's son, Philippe,
who was now the new Duke. Upon seeing his friend
without sufficient employment, the new Duke decided to invite Saint
George to London to meet the Prince of Wales, the
oldest son of King George the Third future King George
(24:13):
the Fourth, who had heard word of this superb fencer
slash violinist Saint George Son George readily agreed, and the
Duke and Saint George swiftly made their way across the
Channel to England. But unbeknownst to the Chevalier, Philippe had
more than one reason that he was bringing the famed
(24:36):
Chevalier de Saint George to London. This concludes part one
of our two part series on the incredibly exciting life
of the Chevalier de Saint George. But stick around after
a brief sponsor break to hear about another famous classical
(24:59):
musician who may have known Joseph Blonne, the Chevalier de
Saint George. For those of you classical music officionados out
there who may have been putting mental timelines together throughout
(25:20):
this episode, first I applaud you on your very specific
historical knowledge, and second will confirm yes, one Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart was indeed in Paris at the exact same time
as Joseph Balone, the Chevalier de Saint George in seventeen
seventy eight. In fact, between July fifth and September eleventh
(25:45):
of that year, the two were living under the very
same roof at the Montessons mansion on the Chasset d'antan.
Yet unfortunately, despite their proximity, there's actually no i'h written
a record of the two ever meeting during this time. Still,
if you want, this is me giving you permission to
(26:07):
write your own imagined classical music version of that musical
million dollar quartet. San George actually did happen to meet
Mozart when he was just ten years old in seventeen
sixty six, but some scholars theorize Mozart patently did not
want to meet San George during their stays in Paris
(26:29):
in seventeen seventy eight because he was envious of his success.
I will say that Mozart's mother had just died in
the beginning of July in seventeen seventy eight, so he
may have just been completely in mourning. In letters from
Mozart's father, he begs his son to attend a performance
of the concerd'emtur, but there's no record of Mozart fulfilling
(26:53):
his father's wishes. We will most likely never know if
there was a feud between the two legendary musicians or
some hidden, off the record friendship. You never know, but
musical historians have long questioned why the villain in Mozart's
opera The Magic Flute is meant to be portrayed by
(27:15):
a black man. Could it have been a lingering jealousy
that fueled his work? Maybe? But I'll end with one
closing thought. Today, when referencing San George, many call him
the black Mozart. But when you consider the success that
Saint George was having in Paris at the time Mozart arrived,
(27:37):
who is to say that Mozart isn't the white Chevalier
de Saint George. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio
and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is
created and hosted by me Dana Schwortz, with additional writing
(28:01):
and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender,
and Lori Goodman. The show is edited and produced by
Noemi Griffin and rima Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh
Thain and executive producers Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
(28:23):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Host
Dana Schwartz
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