The Chevalier De Saint Georges

Banat, a concert violinist and teacher, describes the life of this virtuoso violinist, who is thought to be the earliest black European composer, born on his father's plantation on Guadeloupe.

Long before the word Super Star was coined, Saint-Georges was the original. Many people throughout history have been famous for one reason or another. Many have made great contributions to civilization and left great legacies. Their paintings and sculptures we still admire. Their discoveries have made our lives better; their music we still play and sing, but no one in history was as talented in so many areas as Saint-Georges. For a time, he was the greatest fencer in the world. He was an exceptional violinist and along with his teacher, Gossec, he pioneered the composition of the String Quartet. Even Mozart came to Paris to study this new form of music. Saint-Georges was an unequaled equestrian, an exceptional marksman and an elegant dancer. The wealthy copied the way he dressed, and the common people admired him as he walked through the streets, and whispered his name. He was a true Renaissance man and a super star in the Paris of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. What is even more remarkable was the fact that he was a mulatto.

Review A WORD ABOUT THE CHEVALIER ST. GEORGE "I have been writing about African and African Diaspora history for a long time, but I remain inspired by the youth. And rarely have I been more inspired and excited as I am about this current work by such a youthful author on one of the most fascinating personalities in our history. It is a wonderful work and I am so very proud of the author! God bless you! And may this be only the first of the many fine works that you are destined to gift to us!" Runoko Rashidi, Historian Product Description ★ We've all heard of Martin Luther King Jnr., Rosa Parks and George Washington Carver, but not many have heard about the multi-talented Knight of Saint-George.★ Doesn't ring a bell? Keep reading! From his birth to his death, this book will take you back in time to the 18th century on a journey through the life of Joseph Bologne Le Chevalier de Saint-George, the first black classical composer. Focusing on the major talents and key life events which shaped him into a melanin-powered super-star! This amazing book is authored by an 8-year-old little girl who wished to bring forgotten and hidden black history personalities back into our everyday consciousness. An amazing story of an outstanding man to remember during black history month. ⚠ Don't miss out on a unique opportunity to dig deeper into black history by purchasing this book on Joseph Bologne Le Chevalier de Saint-George today! ⚠

The musical superstar of 18th-century France was Joseph Boulogne—a black man. This inspiring story tells how Joseph, the only child of a black slave and her white master, becomes "the most accomplished man in Europe." After traveling from his native West Indies to study music in Paris, young Joseph is taunted about his skin color. Despite his classmates' cruel words, he continues to devote himself to his violin, eventually becoming conductor of a whole orchestra. Joseph begins composing his own operas, which everyone acknowledges to be magnifique. But will he ever reach his dream of performing for the king and queen of France? This lushly illustrated book by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome introduces us to a talented musician and an overlooked figure in black history.

"17, May 1779 - Landais gave us an account of St-George at Paris, -a mulatto man, son of a former governor of Guadeloupe, by a negro woman. He has a sister married to a former-general. He is the most accomplished man in Europe, in riding, running, shooting, fencing, dancing, music. Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-George is Unique in the history of European music, first for his origins and then for the diversity of this talents and the manifold dacets of his achievement"--Jacket.

"Virtually forgotten until now, his life is the stuff of legend. Born in 1739 in Guadeloupe to a slave mother and a French noble father, he became the finest swordsman of his age, an insider at the doomed court of Louis XVI, and, most of all, a virtuosic musician. A violinist, he directed the Olympic Society of Concerts, which was considered the finest in Europe in an age of great musicians, including Haydn, from whom he commissioned a symphony, and Mozart, to whom he was often compared. He also became the first Freemason of color, embracing the French Revolution with the belief that it would end the racism against which--despite his illustrious achievements--he struggled his whole life"--Publisher's description.

Groundbreaking Book Explores the Black Impact on Classical Music Earl Ofari Hutchinson meticulously details in his It's Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music the black impact on classical music. Hutchinson notes that there are numerous books which have dissected and re-dissected every possible aspect of classical music-the composers, performers, their compositions, the musical structure, the history, and even the gossip and minutiae about the composers and performers. Yet, there are almost no books that focus on the significant part that black composers and performers played in influencing and in turn being influenced by classical music "The list of Africans, African-Americans and Afro-European composers, conductors, instrumental performers, and singers," says Hutchinson, "is and always has been, rich, varied, and deep. Sadly, the recognition of this has almost always come in relation to the work of a major European or white American composer." Hutchinson's aim in It's Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music is not to update a book on blacks and classical music, or list the many notable individual breakthroughs of top flight black classical music performers and composers through the years. Instead he tells the story of how blacks have actually influenced the development, history and structure of classical music in its major varied forms; opera, chamber pieces, symphonies, and concertos. It's a story that's filled with tragedy and triumph, heart break and heroism. Hutchinson gives an exciting and entertaining glimpse into Mozart's "borrowing" a musical idea from the black violin virtuoso Chevalier Saint-Georges in the eighteenth century, Dvorak's basing a major part of his New World Symphony on Negro Spirituals in the nineteenth century, and composers such as Gershwin, Copeland. Stravinsky and Ravel, wildly embracing jazz and blues in some of their popular and acclaimed works in the twentieth century. It's Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music is a fast paced, reader friendly, easy to understand look at just exactly what and how the greats in classical music have borrowed from and paid homage to jazz, blues, ragtime, boogie woogie and Negro spirituals. "Throughout I name and recommend many pieces to listen to by the greats of classical music," notes Hutchinson, "who were directly inspired by black musical forms as well as the works of black composers who have written exceptional works that have influenced the works of other classical composers." Hutchinson also tells how black performers such as Roland Hayes with his unique interpretations of German leider, and Marian Anderson and Jessye Norman with their distinctive tones and vibrant, fresh renderings of, and subsequent path breaking performances in the major works of opera giants, Giuseppi Verdi and Richard Wagner have greatly altered how these master's works are heard today. It's Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music, takes the reader on an exciting, eye opening, and revealing journey through the world of classical music in which the major critics, composers and performers tell in their words their appreciation of the major contribution blacks made to classical music. "It is no exaggeration or overstatement to say that classical music does owe a debt to the black experience in classical music," says Hutchinson, "And the goal is to show music lovers and readers how that debt continues to be paid in concert halls everywhere."

(Book). Making music at any level is a powerful gift. While musicians have endless resources for learning the basics of their instruments and the theory of music, few books have explored the other subtleties and complexities that musicians face in their quest to play with ease and skill. The demands of solitary practice, hectic rehearsal schedules, challenging repertoire, performance pressures, awkward postures, and other physical strains have left a trail of injured, hearing-impaired, and frustrated musicians who have had few resources to guide them. Playing Less Hurt addresses this need with specific tools to avoid and alleviate injury. Impressively researched, the book is invaluable not only to musicians, but also to the coaches and medical professionals who work with them. Everyone from dentists to orthopedists, audiologists to neurologists, massage therapists and trainers will benefit from Janet Horvath's coherent account of the physiology and psyche of a practicing musician. Writing with knowledge, sympathetic insight, humor, and aplomb, Horvath has created an essential resource for all musicians who want to play better and feel better.