Today, the Chevalier is most famous for being one of the first known classical composers of African descent. There’s plenty of his music available on Spotify, but nowhere near his full catalogue (which, as far as we know, consists of three sets of string quartets, two symphonies, eight symphonie concertantes, six operas comiques, three violin sonatas, 14 violin concertos and many more). Unfortunately, a lot of the Chevalier’s music was lost during the French Revolution, and what survived was quickly forgotten. The Chevalier was Marie Antoinette’s music teacher. Read more: 9 black composers who changed the course of classical music history And these rare but painful slights because of his race did hold him back from some great places of privilege in Parisian society.” “And I believe that out of respect for Marie Antoinette, so not to embarrass her, he withdraws his name from consideration. They would read together and perform together, and they became very close. Speaking to WBUR about his play, Barclay adds: “Part of the play that I’m writing includes Marie Antoinette in this because he was over in Versailles playing music with her privately. It is alleged that the Queen enjoyed playing with him publicly, and he was eventually fired because they got ‘too close’. The Chevalier reached the height of his fame within Marie Antoinette’s court, where he was one of her music teachers. Rumours around the Chevalier and Marie Antoinette Young Mozart was highly jealous of the Chevalier. There’s even a popular theory that Mozart, as well as swiping one of Saint-Georges’ ideas in his Sinfonia Concertante, channelled his jealousy of Bologne into the villainous black character Monostatos, who appears in his opera The Magic Flute. He was 11 years Mozart’s senior, and the young Austrian composer was supremely jealous of him – a jealousy fuelled, no doubt, by the racism of the time. He was good-looking, highly favoured by the Queen and something of a local celebrity. The Chevalier was a composer, violinist and conductor in the court of Marie Antoinette. Mozart first came across the Chevalier de Saint Georges when he moved to Paris in 1778.
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