Symphonie Concertante in G Major, op. 13 - by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Symphonie Concertante in G Major, op. 13 by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Performed Saturday, February 4th, 2023 | Broadmoor Community Church
Jacob Klock, violin | Elisa Wicks, violin*
Conductor: Thomas Wilson
Audio/Video: Michael Lascuola
Program Notes: Jennifer Carpenter
- For this performance, the Chamber Orchestra has added a middle slow movement using material from Bologne's Violin Concerto in G Major, op. 2 no. 1; Elisa Wicks, soloist, created a new solo second violin part in the compositional style of Bologne.
Many gaps exist in the biographical details of Joseph Bologne, including his birthdate, which may have been on Christmas Day of 1745 on a small island in the archipelago of Guadeloupe. After being falsely accused of murder, Joseph’s father George Bologne, a plantation owner, fled to France with his family including Nanon, Joseph’s mother and Senegalese slave (George’s wife’s slave, to be precise), and their young son. Once in France, Joseph benefited from opportunities and experiences, including an elite education that allowed his multiple gifts, not limited to music, to thrive. Joseph Bologne became the first European musician/composer of African descent to receive widespread critical acclaim.
As a teenager, Joseph excelled in fencing, which proved to be his entrée into high society and led King Louis XV to name him the Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Joseph’s father also went by “de Saint-Georges” named after one of his plantations in Guadeloupe). Of the biographical details lost, his musical training remains a mystery. By his mid-20s, we have record of him playing in the newly formed Concert des Amateurs, where he soon became concertmaster and eventually music director. As their director, Bologna helped elevate the orchestra to one of the continent’s best. He premiered and performed as the featured soloist on his challenging violin concertos, Op. 2 in 1772 with the Concert des Amateurs (the middle movement of today’s performance comes from one of these concertos). Afterward, his pace of composing increased, including string quartets, sonatas, violin concertos, and ten symphonies concertantes, a new Parisian genre.
The term symphonie concertante reveals its form: a combination of symphony and concerto. They became popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and to some extent, relate to the earlier baroque concerto grosso. These pieces prominently offer two (or more) soloists who relate to one another to a greater degree than to the full ensemble - their prominence and independence are central to the genre. Bologna’s original two-movement Symphonie Concertante in G Major, Op. 13 features two solo violinists. For this performance, a middle slow movement has been constructed using material from his Violin Concerto, Op. 2 No. 1.
In general, Bologna’s music has a dramatic flair, and despite his work with the Concert des Amateurs, his music and the orchestra itself were not amateurish. The solo writing is quite challenging. The spirited opening Allegro begins with several dance-like melodies that are picked up in ornamented versions by the two soloists in imitation. At times, the two violins echo one another and play in harmony; other times, they seemingly challenge one another. The final movement is a Rondeau, which means that the introductory theme reappears in between dramatic flights of fancy lead by the two violinists. Bologne’s symphonies concertantes present music that shows off both the ensemble and the soloists.
It is a rather remarkable feat that Bologne achieved the status he did during his time in France. In 1762 Louis XV decreed that “Nègres et gens de couleur” (blacks and people of color) must register with the clerk of the Admiralty. Many French leaders argued that Africans and their descendents were inferior, making it difficult for Joseph Bologne to achieve his full potential. He lost a position as the conductor of the Paris Opera in 1772 due to singers who objected to having to “submit to the orders of a mulatto.” However, his status and reputation among prominent musicians of the time, including Antonio Lolli, François-Joseph Gossec, and Carl Stamitz, suggest the high esteem in which he was held as they all dedicated compositions to him. In a diary entry from May 1779, John Adams (the future American president, who had just completed duty as Envoy to France) called him “the most Accomplished man in Europe in riding, running, dancing, and music.”