Black History Month: Joseph Bologne, Francis Johnson, and George Bridgetower

 

This February, The Columbia Orchestra will celebrate Black History Month by learning about black composers on our blog! Up first, Joseph Boulogne, Francis Johnson, and George Bridgetower.

Joseph Bologne

Years Lived: 1745-1799

Period: Classical

Country: France

Joseph Boulogne (also spelled Bologne), Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a French composer of the Classical era. He was known for his compositions, his violin playing, and his conducting. He is the first classical composer that we know of who has African ancestry. 

Joseph was born in the French territory Guadeloupe but his father brought him to France to be educated when he was 7. He studied at a boarding school, then went on to a special Fencing school. He was known for his fencing skills and when he was only 13, could beat people much older.

Not much is known about his early musical education, but based on his abilities on violin and in composition, it can be assumed that he studied music extensively. His most famous works include operas, violin concertos (which he premiered as the violin player, himself), symphonies, and chamber music. He was well known enough for his fencing that people came to see him play and marveled at his talent in both fencing and violin playing!

 

This short article from Classics for Kids includes more information about Bologne. For lots more information, check out this article on Africlassical.com and find more than ten audio samples of his pieces on this page of the Africlassical.com website.

To hear a full movement of Bologne's Symphony Op. 11, listen to this YouTube video by Collegium Musicum Ostschweiz. Here is a movement of Bologne's Symphonie Concertante in G Major performed by the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble. 

 

Several films have been made about Boulogne and Searchlight Pictures is planning to make another.

Francis Johnson

Years Lived: 1792-1844

Period: Classical

Country: American

Francis "Frank" Johnson was an American composer and virtuoso bugle player. There weren't very many American composers from this era, as it was a time of economic growth and a boom in the farming industry in the United States. But despite this, he became well known for his music.

Johnson was born in Philadelphia and learned many instruments from a young age. He was first known for playing fiddle at parties and balls. He then went on to learn bugle and became the first black bandleader in the United States. 

Johnson was the first African American to have his works published as sheet music. Johnson was so popular that he didn't have enough time to write everything down, and would make basic notes for the musicians to get the general idea of his songs and they would do the rest. We know the popularity of his music by the raving reviews of his work in newspapers and by the word of mouth spread throughout the years.

 

This short Classics for Kids article and this YouTube video include more information about Francis Johnson. For even more information, check out this  Africlassical.com's article. You can hear Johnson's Victoria Gallop in this YouTube video.

George Bridgetower

Years Lived: 1778-1860

Period: Romantic

Country: England

George Bridgetower was an English musician who performed in the Romantic era. He captured the ears of many people throughout Europe, most notably the future King George IV who ensured that George Bridgetower received a formal musical training. He studied with François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, Giovanni Giornovichi, and Thomas Attwood.

Bridgetower gave concerts all over London and even performed for Thomas Jefferson when Jefferson was in London on a trip!

in 1802, he traveled to visit his mother and brother in Dresden and met Beethoven while there. Beethoven was very impressed with his musical abilities and even dedicated a violin sonata to him, which Beethoven and Bridgetower premiered together in Germany. The pair had a falling out after the concert, and Beethoven removed the dedication (just like Beethoven famously did with the dedication to Napoleon on his Symphony No. 3, Eroica). 

This article from Classic FM gives more background about Bridgetower's connection with Beethoven.

This YouTube video is of a performance of Bridgetower's Henry, A Ballad.