Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Chevalier

6/20/2023

0 Comments

 

Books By Patti Liszkay
​Available on Amazon

​
​https://www.amzn.com/1685131832
Picture


​CHEVALIER

Picture
       A couple of Saturday evenings ago I and half a dozen other movie-goers had one of the Columbus Easton Town Center AMC theaters to ourselves for the five dollar special. Sadly, the movie we saw was "Chevalier."
          I say "sadly," because "Chevalier" is such an enthralling, enlightening, wonderful film that it deserved a far better platform than a five dollar showing in a mostly empty theater. But I expect this was the case because apparently not many people have heard of the movie. Which maybe figures, since apparently neither have many people heard of the subject of the film, one of the great 18th Century classical composers, Joseph Bologne, also known as Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who was as famous as Mozart during his time. And who happened to be Black.
Picture
   But while Mozart, Hayden, Gluck, Beethoven, C.P.E. Bach and other musical greats of that era are still well known to this day, Joseph Bologne is not. "Chevalier" tells the amazing story of this prodigious musician of color whose life and music were erased from history.
​      As related in the movie,  Joseph Bologne was born a slave on a plantation in the Caribbean, the child of an 18-year-old enslaved girl and the French plantation owner who considered her his sexual property, 
Picture
​...as slave owners generally considered their slaves to be.
      However, as a child Joseph showed a prodigious musical ability.
Picture
...and his French father, perhaps in an attempt to assuage his conscience and do right by the child, or perhaps to discreetly make this biracial child of his disappear, took Joseph to Paris - slavery being legal in the French colonies but outlawed in France - and enrolled him in an elite boarding school. Here Joseph was initially tormented, 
Picture
...but nonetheless grew into not only a brilliant musician, 
Picture
...but a champion swordsman,
Picture
Picture
​...and after beating the reigning champion, was granted by Queen Marie-Antoinette the title of Chevalier de Saint-George.  
        But although Saint-George was an acclaimed composer and conductor,
Picture
...though he was a nobleman who travelled in the highest aristocratic circles and was an intimate friend of Marie-Antoinette,
Picture
...among others,
Picture
...and although by law as soon as any person set foot in France they were free, still, there were certain basic rights accorded the white population that were denied a person of color such as Joseph Bologne, whatever his social status or station in life. Nor were rivals, competitors or envious individuals above using his race against him to bring themselves up by keeping him down.
      Meanwhile seeds of unrest among the French population were blooming into a revolution, 
Picture
​...to which  Joseph Bologne would awaken,
Picture
...anad adopt the struggle of the people as his own.
Picture
Picture
  "Chevalier" was a visual treat of beautiful period scenes and costumes, and told a compelling story set to the sublime music of Chevalier de Saint-George.
Picture
      And yet what struck me most about "Chevalier" was the fact that until I saw this movie Joseph Bologne didn't exist for me. In fact, I could hardly - can still hardly - wrap my head around the fact that a man who was such a great composer and figure of historical importance barely exists for anyone. It's almost as if there's a hole in history that nobody knew was there.
         Still, I suppose it's better to have known great fame and have one's heroism celebrated during one's lifetime and then be forgotten after one's death - as happened with Joseph Bologne - than to have lived unknown and unacknowledged, only to have one's great accomplishments discovered and honored after one is no longer around to enjoy the recognition of one's life's work. 
        But after the death of Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-George in 1799 it obviously did not suit  the purposes of the time, when black slavery was still in its ascendance in the British and French colonies and the young United States, to immortalize the genius and accomplishments of a man of color.
         Funny how time works, though.
       BTW, though "Chevalier" has likely left the big theater screen in most locations, it can now be found streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves music, history, and/or a really good movie. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    Picture
    ​"Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
    Picture
    "Tropical Depression" 
    by Patti Liszkay
    ​Buy it on Amazon:   
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact