Podcast appearances and mentions of joseph bologne chevalier

This episode coincides with the topic of the Live At The Oasis meaning it is about a French Black man. Please do your own research on Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint Georges and enjoy. 00:00 Intro 01:42 Nikki Haley 08:48 AM I A Trump Supporter 22:23 WWE On Netflix 24:26 Black Pro Athletes Are Taking All The White Women 30:35 Mick Jackson 36:34 Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint Georges 44:49 Outro

We've been exploring the life of Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a multi-talented violinist, composer and conductor who was famous in France in the 18th Century. In the last four episodes, as we've relayed all of this history, I've left something out on purpose, but it's now time to address the elephant in the room. Anyone who has studied or listened to the music of Chevalier will know him by a particular nickname, “The Black Mozart” a title given after his death.

Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a world-renowned fencer, a composer, violinist and conductor in 18th century France. Even with all of his success, there was a limit to what Chevalier was allowed to achieve.

This is our third episode exploring the life of 18th Century French composer, violinist and conductor Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges. We're answering the question, why was this incredibly talented individual, who was quite popular in his day, barely known to us today. In the last episode we spoke about Joseph's heritage, being the son of a Senegalese enslaved individual and French aristocrat. In this episode we'll dive into the early life of this multi-talented prodigy.

The Black Mozart? I think not! Dr E, Angie and special guest Sherilyn discuss Chevalier, a film starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. about Joseph Bologne - Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Born in 1745 in the French colony of Guadeloupe to a wealthy plantation owner and enslaved Senegalese maid, through his extrodinary talent and charisma Joseph rose to the highest echelons of elite French society. This historical drama is Dr E approved! Now streaming on Hulu.Podcast produced and edited by waxpoetfilms.com

The Black Mozart? I think not! Dr E, Angie and special guest Sherilyn discuss Chevalier, a film starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. about Joseph Bologne - Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Born in 1745 in the French colony of Guadeloupe to a wealthy plantation owner and enslaved Senegalese maid, through his extrodinary talent and charisma Joseph rose to the highest echelons of elite French society. This historical drama is Dr E approved! Now streaming on Hulu.Podcast produced and edited by waxpoetfilms.com

Naxos Classical Spotlight looks at the life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799) – a brilliant swordsman, athlete, violin virtuoso and gifted composer – might well lay claim to being the most talented figure in an age of remarkable individuals. Raymond Bisha gives an overview of this remarkable life, binding the disparate elements of his career with the constant beauty of his violin concertos.

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we celebrate the opening of the new Searchlight Pictures film 'Chevalier' coming to theaters April 21st. In this discussion, we talk about the life of Joseph Bologne and give our critiques about the upcoming film. Chevalier is directed by Stephen Williams and stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Chevalier, Samara Weaving as Marie-Josephine and Lucy Boynton as Marie Antoinette. Host: Ryanne and Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this episode, I explore Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint Georges, who was a master swordsman, violinist, and a great classical music composer in France during the 1700s. Download the free E-Coloring Book that has coloring pages for the first 10 heroes explored on the podcast. Go to the Instagram page @exploreblackhistory You'll also be able to access the link for the free vocabulary guide.

Composer Jessie Montgomery is in a constant state of creation. She actively plays violin and teaches, while composing award-winning pieces. Find out more about her amazing achievements in the latest episode of the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

En garde, Scorekeepers! In honor of The Anonymous Lover, the first opera by a Black composer to be performed on MN Opera's mainstage, we're back this week with the second episode of our Joseph Bologne trilogy! This week, we are joined by George N. Gianopoulos, Stephen Karr, Leila Núñez-Fredell, and Mishkar Núñez-Fredell, all members of Opera Ritrovata, an amazing company of artists dedicated to restoring and performing classical works composed by women musicians and musicians of the global majority thought to have been lost to history. Join us for a fascinating chat about Bologne's life, how one goes about restoring a piece of musical history, and why it's important to excavate these pieces and re-introduce them to the canon (0:32:52). (How many times do we have to say we've been here the whole time?!?!) Also, we're joined all show by the fabulous Samuel Phillips, classical music expert, MN Opera's new Access and Civic Engagement Director and all around lovely and smart human (0:04:21). Shout-out to more Black leadership at MN Opera! And, as always, we end with a moment of Pure Black Joy (1:06:03)! This week: Rihanna, Abbot Elementary (again), Macro, and the Black Film Archive. Let's do it to it, y'all! Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Samuel Phillips, Paige Reynolds Guests: Opera Ritrovata (George N. Gianopoulos, Stephen Karr, Leila Núñez-Fredell, Mishkar Núñez-Fredell) Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFTaBGF99GU (Trio from L' Amant Anonyme by Joseph Bologne “Chevalier de Saint-Georges” )(Courtesy of Opera Ritrovata) Links Opera Ritrovata (https://www.operaritrovata.org/ (Website)) (https://www.facebook.com/operaritrovata/ (Facebook)) (https://www.instagram.com/operaritrovata/?hl=en (Instagram)) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUEvyVGij-h4Q3BHSsM46RQ (YouTube)) MN Opera's The Anonymous Lover (https://mnopera.org/season/2021-2022/the-anonymous-lover/ (Website)) Macro (https://www.staymacro.com/ (Website)) Black Film Archive (https://blackfilmarchive.com/ (Website))

As arts institutions continue to celebrate the life and work of Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, opera scholar Angel Refusé is pushing individuals to understand how the so-called "Black Mozart" actually inspired not only 18th-century European culture, but world culture! He explores this idea with Garrett while highlighting how spirituality and contemporary culture play a role in the Chevalier's legacy. Garrett and Scott discuss a new arts experience as spearheaded by Boston Lyric Opera, and the guys invite Johnathan Gibbs into the weekly TRILLOQUY to discuss his recent scuffle with the New York City Gay Mens' Chorus. Playlist: Claude Debussy - "Jeux" Pure Hell - "No Rules" Willie Nelson - "He Was A Friend Of Mine" Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 31 (mov. 2, perf. Awadagin Pratt) Whole Truth - "Can You Love By Following God" Kanyé West - "Follow God" Julio Racine - "Voodoo Jazz Sonata" (mov. 2, feat. Christine Gangelhoff) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - "Alles Fühlt" (from The Magic Flute) More: Angel Refusé: https://angelrefuse.com Downbeat (Katt Williams on the Joe Budden Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miVhHsEIqZ0&t=1122s Scott Blankenship Interview: https://www.musicjournalisminsider.com/archive/scott-blankenship-interview/ (available until 6/19/21) Imani Winds Joins Curtis Faculty: https://www.inquirer.com/arts/imani-winds-curtis-institute-philadelphia-faculty-20210601.html Naomi Osaka Shows That Prioritizing Yourself Over A Job Is Still A Radical Act: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/naomi-osaka-prioritize-yourself-over-jo_l_60b79ecae4b001ebd46cd31a?fbclid=IwAR1_Kqdsel5obRzXrDJRYIooRVnbfkblWABTgrzhNeaLHiPlFdds9mlepjY Opera Singer at the Insurrection: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/04/audrey-southard-capitol-riots-carnegie/ Boston Lyric Opera Presents "Desert In": https://blo.org/desert-in/

We have made it to our 20th episode! In this episode, we continue our Black History Month series as we discuss the lives and careers of historical black composers: Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges and William Grant Still, Jr. Then, we share our concerns about our current semester situation. As always, wear a mask and be safe! Instagram: @outoftunepod

CW: Discussions of the brutality of slavery in Pre-Revolution Haiti. It's Black History Month and K is back with some knowledge for Warren about Black contributions to theatre! In our first installment of this year's Black Theatre History series, K and Warren talk about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Learn about a man who fought to be the best at everything he did and find out why the French Republican Calendar is an absolute mess in this episode of Tone Deaf! Promo: Black History Buff Podcast Buy some merch at our TeePublic!  https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tonedeafmusical?ref_id=13889 Join the Cast Junkie discord and help support indie podcasts at https://discord.gg/ajPg3JSg6e. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebadger @ToneDeafMusical for some dank theatre memes, check out the patreon at https://www.patreon.com/tonedeafmusical and visit our website, tonedeafmusical.com

Artaria Editions Biography of Joseph Bologne Joseph's Wikipedia Entry Saint-Georges - Symphony Op. 11 No. 1 in D major (Overture; 'L'amant anonyme') 1. Allegro Episode 11 - Classical Music --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ohvamusic/message

Playwright, producer and performer Dzifa Benson examines the duality in her work and talks about an exciting new project about Black classical musician and composer, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The Two of Us began on Reel Rebels Radio. In this special edition series, ‘The Two of Us SHORTS’, Naomi Woddis and Alba Frederick conduct interviews exploring the impact the worldwide pandemic has had on creativity and mental health.  Show hosts - Naomi Woddis/Alba Frederick Originally broadcast on Reel Rebels Radio Music : Gavin O’Brien - Citóg  

Dr. Arne Spohr, Associate Professor of musicology at BGSU and Spring 2019 ICS faculty fellow, discusses his research project entitled Forgotten Voices: Rediscovering Europe's Black Musical Past, in which he sheds light on the lived experiences and musical contributions of black composers and performers in Europe between 1415 and 1800.    Transcript: Introduction: From Bowling Green State University and the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society, this is Big ideas. Intro Song Lyrics: I'm going to show you this with a wonderful experiment. Jolie Sheffer: Welcome to the Big ideas podcast, a collaboration between the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. I'm Jolie Sheffer, Associate Professor of English and American Cultural Studies, and the director of ICS. Today I'm joined by Dr. Arne Spohr. Dr. Spohr is an Associate Professor of musicology here at BGSU, where he teaches courses in music history and directs the BGSU early music ensemble. Jolie Sheffer: In spring 2019 Arne was an ICS faculty fellow. Dr. Spohr's research focuses on music, cultural exchange and court culture in Britain, Germany and Scandinavia between 1500 and 1750. In his new research project entitled Forgotten Voices: Rediscovering Europe's Black Musical Past, he sheds light on the lived experiences and musical contributions of black composers and performers in Europe between 1415 and 1800. I'm very pleased to have you here with you today, Arne. Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah, thank you for having me and for giving me the opportunity to actually share some aspects of my research here. It's very exciting. So how did I come across this? Jolie Sheffer: I'll ask you the question. Okay. First off, I'd like to have you give a little background on your current work and how you first began studying these once famous, but now forgotten, black musicians and composers. How did you first come across these figures? Dr. Arne Spohr: Well, it's actually a bit of a long story, as it always is with research topics, or sometimes with research topics. I came across one of the composers when I was a PhD student and when I lived in Paris about 15 years ago and worked in the [inaudible 00:01:57] and saw somewhere in the library a flyer announcing a new recording of music by a certain Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges and a black composer. I thought how strange that I've never heard of him and what not might his music sound like? Dr. Arne Spohr: I dropped the ball, so to speak and never bought a recording. But on the other hand, saw this image of this flyer and this question that I had never really left me and remained in my mind. Then about in 2013, 10 years later, the Chevalier of George and the topic of black musicians came back to me in a broader sense. In 2013, I had a different mindset than in the early 2000s. I'd moved from Germany to the United States to start my job as a Professor of musicology here at BGSU. When I lived in Germany, I hadn't given the idea or the issue of race much thought, partially because the German term of us is so inseparably connected to national socialist ideology and the holocaust that it is commonly felt that it cannot be used in a positive way, which would lead to the problematic consequence that one avoid thinking about race all together. Dr. Arne Spohr: Germany has traditionally viewed itself as a racially and ethnically homogenous country an attitude that is now only slowly changing. After moving to the States and after meeting my partner who's African American in 2012, I've learned a lot about African American culture, music and black studies and race as a positive concept that can help us understand structures of power and oppression. These new experiences insights have widened my horizon and had let me ask different questions as a scholar. And have also let me critically reflect on my own role as a white man and the production of knowledge and scholarship and teaching. Dr. Arne Spohr: In 2013, I came back to Germany for longer time at a fellowship with the Herzog August library in Wolfenbüttel in Germany, which is a fantastic research center for early modern studies. Then there I encountered this topic with new thoughts and new questions. I met a friend who used to be my colleague at the local high school and he works with students about local issues like local composers, and local for instance, a black philosopher named Anton Wilhem Amo, who studied in Germany and taught at German universities in the early 18th century and black performers who were trumpeters and drummers who worked at the local court and I had never heard of these people. I got curious and I started reading about them. Dr. Arne Spohr: So that put that idea back in my mind. Then later that year on a train trip, I met a historian Eve Rosenhaft who teaches at the University of Liverpool, and who has become a friend through this project. She and I, we talked about the history of the black diaspora, the Earth diaspora in Germany and eventually, during this trip she asked me, would you like to teach at a summer school for graduate students that she was planning in 2015, two years later. I said, "I don't know anything about black musicians and this is a new topic for me." She said, "You have two years you can work yourself into the fields, no problem." And so- Jolie Sheffer: It became a new challenge [crosstalk 00:06:00] Dr. Arne Spohr: But also that this amazing scholar who I really admire, trusted me that I could do this, and expected the best from me was really a very positive thing as a very positive challenge. So I did and in 2015, the summer school happened, and I had really worked my way into the field. I taught this class with amazing students who came from various different universities from North America and Europe, and had different academic and racial backgrounds also. And so that was a big, big insight for me that one's own positionality. Where do you come from and what questions that structures the questions that you have- Jolie Sheffer: And that as we change our insights change. Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah. Jolie Sheffer: Like this is why scholarship is so exciting is that it's always evolving and we're always evolving with it. Dr. Arne Spohr: It was a very interdisciplinary setting. So most of my colleagues were historians, one lead scholar, and some of them, they have really supported my research and read drafts of a journal article. I'm in constant contact with them. They know that this is going on here at BGSU. They're excited about the performances and want to hear the music. This has been a really great experience. Jolie Sheffer: So your scholarship is about kind of recovering some of these figures and their music, right? Dr. Arne Spohr: Yes. Jolie Sheffer: Who have sort of dropped out of our conceptions of the classical tradition, that sort of white western classical tradition. How did you see your research changing that familiar, mainstream narrative, which we've learned is a white male tradition? What does your research tell you differently? Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah, this is also... This is a very, very good, very broad question. Let me start with an example. Again, there's a visual image that I connect I saw as a PhD student a long time ago that is displayed in the museum of Hamburg history in Hamburg Germany, which shows three famous German composers at the musical gathering. They usually talked about and... But in the center of the painting, you see a young black man who offers one of those famous composers a bowl of grapes, and this person is never talked about. So I want to bring Black Africans like him, who are shown on many, many paintings actually, of the time, and whose lives are still hidden in archives into our conversation about European classical music, and more specifically into music history scholarship and teaching. Jolie Sheffer: So part of what you're saying is these people are hidden in place. Dr. Arne Spohr: They're hidden. Jolie Sheffer: They're there in front of us, but we have stopped seeing them. Dr. Arne Spohr: We have stopped seeing them and I think it's also not generally known that far a greater numbers of Black Africans lived in early modern Europe than is generally thought today. For instance, in 16th century, Lisbon, about 20% of the population was black. That is not present and common knowledge. And so the significant presence of Afro Europeans and their contributions to European culture has not been... It's been mostly ignored by historians. Dr. Arne Spohr: You see that when you look into, for instance, the music history textbook, or local a history of local music, you hardly find any reference to black performers or composers and the music that they played and created. There's a lot of questions that still need to be explored and asked, and I can only like contribute a little bit to that. But, for instance, those people who came from Africa, were trafficked from Africa and were slaves in Portugal and Spain and they brought the music and musical traditions from Africa and ethnomusicologists and music historians have only recently investigated the African roots of musical genres that have for a long time been thought to be essentially European, such as the flamenco and certain court dances such as the shaquan. Jolie Sheffer: Again, these things that we tend to think of as being sort of purely European only now beginning to recognize that they have African roots. Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah, yeah. And there were also composers of western classical music who were black and these are the composers I'm mainly focusing on. So and they're only few of them that are known, but these few composers have actually contributed significant aspects to the history of Western music. For instance, Vicente Lusitano was a 16 Century Black composer from Portugal was one of the first Portuguese composers to publish motets. It's a popular, then popular, genre of sacred vocal music. He won a public debate on the issue of music theory. Another black composer, the Chevalier de Saint-George was one of the first French composers to publish string quartets in 18th century France, and so on and so on. So I think these composers have contributed to the history of Western music. I think that needs to be highlighted more. Dr. Arne Spohr: Back to the question, how does my research change the mainstream narrative? You said in your question, it's a general assumption that western classical music is entirely white and male domain. And I hope through my research, that I can create awareness that European culture has actually been much more diverse than we generally assume as the current political climate sees a renaissance of nationalist thoughts and politics. And also revisionist kind of thinking that very much reminds me of the national thinking of the 19th century in the racism of the 1930s. And just what doesn't want to need to with the writers, political groups, and Europe, that they claim a white Europe that has never existed. Jolie Sheffer: Yeah, well and we've seen that there have been some really interesting work by art historians looking at statuary from ancient Greece and ancient Rome. We think of that as the beautiful white marble and in fact, those were highly painted and sculpted to represent racially diverse people. But we have sort of deliberately forgotten that history. So your work is part of that tradition of kind of revealing the white washing of the past. Dr. Arne Spohr: Revealing the white washing of the past and shedding light on the diversity that exists in Europe and for the aspect of teaching in the area of teaching, I strive to create a inclusive curriculum, in which I address both music that has been part of the musical canon but also by composers my students have never heard of, for instance, women composers, black composers, and Jewish composers to illustrate the actual diversity of Western music history. I also address issues such as colonialism, the history of slavery and racism to illustrate the background of black composers and performers. But ultimately, I think it's not just about being more diverse or inclusive. But also it's about reflecting critically how music histories are told in general. Through my scholarship and teaching a challenge the general assumption of the canon of musical masterpieces that we have inherited from the 19th century and the notion of classical music as a collection of masterworks that exists beyond time and space. Jolie Sheffer: Only that's one of the contributions of musicologists and music historians is to say that we think we already know that history and to say there's always ways of going back and rediscovering things that have been forgotten. Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah, yeah. Jolie Sheffer: Great. Dr. Arne Spohr: My research specifically centers on black performers in 17th century Germany. For me, it's very important to just see ideas of race before they know the actual term race existed, practices of race, meaning practices of differentiation, and discrimination arise in 17th century Germany. And so through the study of those musicians or performers, and their experiences in social experiences, and their legal situation in 17th century Germany, I hope to also shed light on the history of race formation in an early modern Europe before the advent of the pseudo scientific race theories in the late 18th century. Jolie Sheffer: I have another question for you. How is your work interdisciplinary? What have you gained by kind of combining different approaches in your work? Dr. Arne Spohr: Let me first say that it is significant that I mostly talked to historians during my research project. They're really excited about this because they always say, "Well, we don't know anything about music." "We don't know anything about music." Why are all these performers and composers and why is that a specifically what is his field in which black Africans have excelled or specialized in? They really set me on the track of exploring this and I've been in touch with them ever since. I have to say that archival research by definition is interdisciplinary. You have to read some manuscript as written in a really, really difficult almost indecipherable fashion, in the form of language that doesn't exist anymore or it's a different language. You have to understand that. And then understanding what you find in archival document needs a lot of contextual knowledge. Dr. Arne Spohr: So you need to understand legal history of somebody who was black in 17th century Germany, for instance, you need to understand the symbolism of violence. One of the performers I've been studying investigating was almost killed in the middle of the night in 17th century Stuttgart and the attackers who were like white young men of the lowest social position, they intended to destroy his face, and his eyes and his nose. That seemed to have been really intentional. I have to understand what that means in a society that was centered on honor and respectability and privilege. I have to understand in what that symbolism of violence means. So that is an interdisciplinary, highly interdisciplinary question. Yeah, I have to be part time historian and that is beautiful, exciting and also sometimes very frightening. There's a lot to know and there's a lot that is still unknown. I'm not claiming that my research delivers perfect answers for all times, or rather hope to start a conversation and that others will continue. Jolie Sheffer: Right. What is the relationship you see between your research, your teaching, and the training of musicians? Dr. Arne Spohr: Well, the joy and responsibility of a music history professor is to share a musical and more broadly intellectual discoveries with my students and make them curious about things. I'm also blessed with colleagues in the performance department who are likewise open minded, and are open to trying out new repertoire with their students and colleagues who are willing to come to a rehearsal share their opinion, and with whom I can cooperate in a project. I've talked to my colleague, Caroline Chen, who's Professor of violin here at BGSU to do a program with works just per the Chevalier de Saint-Georges next year, Berlin concerti at chamber music and actually go on a tour that is hopefully a project that will materialize through collaborations with the performance area. Jolie Sheffer: So you're talking about how your scholarship can communicate among researchers instead of change the narratives we have. Dr. Arne Spohr: Change the narrative. Jolie Sheffer: But you're also training performers to learn this music and get it out there as part of this expanded repertoire. Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah, and it can happen you walk through the hallway and you see, for instance, a flute student who said, "That was a really beautiful Sonata by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, I'm really interested in playing that on my recital." Then these moments make me really excited and to see that actually there is an intersection between music history, research and performance, that it can widen the experiences that students make with performances and also making more exploratory or curious about other repertoires have never tried out. Yeah, and some other students that share their discoveries with me. For instance, Anthony Yeomans, who was a piano performer has premiered and studied piano concerto by an African American woman composer Florence Price recently, and he's shared that with me so that he's going to ask, sorry, respond in the Q&A today so. Jolie Sheffer: It's okay great. We are going to take a quick break. Thanks for listening to the Big Ideas podcast. Today I'm talking with Dr. Arne Spohr about his research on Black musicians and composers in Europe in the 15th through 18th centuries. Arne can you tell us about some of the music that your students will play for us give us some information about the composers and what you learned about their lives? Dr. Arne Spohr: Yeah. One of the pieces that we will perform today is the motet Beati omnes by the black Portuguese composer, Vicente Lusitano. It is contained in manuscripts that is kept and the State Library of Gothenburg and Stuttgart and stated 1562 and has to my knowledge never been edited or performed in modern time. So- Jolie Sheffer: So this is very special audiences you get to be first. Dr. Arne Spohr: So, I sat down and it took me about two weeks to put this in modern notation, and it was not always easy. So, what I learned, I learned a lot from that process. It's a great sublime work of renaissance culture, and it's very, very dignified and expressive. There are six individual voices in this piece that Lusitano keeps constantly busy, creating a texture of great complexity. The text is taken from Psalm 128. The Beati omnes and English translation is blessed all day that fear the Lord and walk in His ways for thou shalt eat the labors of the enhance, et cetera, et cetera. As it was common in the music of the time, each verse or half verse of this piece gets its own the subtext gets its own musical motive, audible in the separate entries of the individual voices. Dr. Arne Spohr: Now it is very speculative, but I wonder if the text that Lusitano set the music had some personal significance for him. Sometimes texts of such musical work served as a personal message to a patron, in this case, the Duke of Gutenberg and the parallels between this text and the situation in which he was and his life at that point. They seem pretty noticeable. Dr. Arne Spohr: Lusitano he had converted to Protestantism in Italy, he had worked as a singer in Italy. He converted to Protestantism for a reason we don't know. He moved to Germany to North's completely different country. He didn't have a job. He applied for a position at the court of Gutenberg. And so one could understand the phrase, he eats the labors of his hands as a reference to his own biographical situation, and then he moved there with his wife and his children, and he hoped that his family would thrive there and the new high marks and the new home country. Dr. Arne Spohr: And that you are the pieces that we performed today were composed 200 years later, and they communicate a very different sound world that of 18th century cortinas, playfulness and sensibility and there by Joseph Bologne the Chevalier de Saint-George who I mentioned earlier, during my talk today, he was one of the most renowned violin virtuoso of his time, a famous fencer who would be seen in public fencing matches. His adventurous life has been made the subject of 19th century novels and plays. He was born as a son of French plantation owner and a black slave on the Caribbean island of Guadalupe, and was brought to France at a very young age, where he received an excellent education. Dr. Arne Spohr: He became the concert master of one of France's leading orchestras that premiered Joseph Haydn's Paris symphonies for instance. He composed opera songs, string quartets, and piano music and became a celebrity in Paris society and was eventually nominated as director of the Paris opera, a position that he was however, eventually denied because of racist bias. During the French revolution, he fought on the side of the revolutionaries, and was eventually incarcerated during Robespierre regime of terror. After his release from prison, he said to have supported the slave rebellion in Haiti. We present two works today by the Chevalier that reveal different sides of his musical personality, playful violin duet that showcases his abilities as a virtuoso, violin virtuoso and an adagio for solo piano that expresses profound deep melancholy. And one wonders what kind of experiences this piece might reflect. Jolie Sheffer: We now have the pleasure of hearing members of the BGSU early music ensemble play some of the music by these rediscover composers. Please enjoy. Jolie Sheffer: Today I'm talking with Dr. Arne Spohr about his research on black musicians and composers in Europe in the 15th through 18th centuries. We'll now turn to our studio audience for some questions. Eunice,: Hi, I'm Eunice, Aya Delhi. I am a Master's student in the Vocal Performance program. My first question to you would be, when researching a lot of these composers, you find that they grow up very isolated in a white environment. As a black person myself, it's interesting to know if you find any of their music has been influenced by maybe some of the exoticism that was happening around them from their white counterparts. Or if you found that they really kind of draw from themselves on their own experience when it comes to the music that they write. Dr. Arne Spohr: That's an excellent question. Thank you, Eunice. Yeah, absolutely true. Would you say about the isolation I mean, except for composers in Britain, I think there was a larger Black population in London 18th century. There's one composer. I haven't talked about before that's Ignatius Sancho he was also writer and he got to England as a slave and eventually fled from his situation from the household where he was slave and became a servant in a noble household and they gave him an education and he eventually had a grocery store in London and he was the first Black Britain to vote and parliamentary election. His music is decidedly British. He writes folk like music like country dancers and songs and the style of the mid 18th century. That shows how he wants to demonstrate that he belongs to the society that he wants to. He also subverts that expectations somehow by naming a song after a slave character that he might have represented on stage in London. Dr. Arne Spohr: He wants to show that he belongs to British society, and that he's able to write music in that style that this has become his home. And that is indirectly also a statement against racism and to actually say, I can do this I'm as good as other white composers of the time. So not sure if that answers your question, but that's his way of negotiating his position in British society at that time. For Chevalier de Saint-George it's been said that his music has echoes of his Caribbean background. So melancholy longing sounds of course that's also true of much of the music of the time. But there's a certain melancholy quality that is in his music in hearing his music and I wonder... And he's also somebody who I don't know about his sexual orientation, but he never married so and a lot of his songs actually about relationships that don't work and he wrote an opera l'amant anonyme which is also about relationship that doesn't work out. I wonder if that is also one of his experiences that he perhaps wanted to marry and he couldn't because people thought he wasn't at their societal level. Dr. Arne Spohr: That might also be reflected in his music. That experience. Yeah. Eunice,: That was my next question to you. Dr. Arne Spohr: Oh, so sorry. Eunice,: About Chevalier because missing a few pieces from Chevalier myself, I found that there is a very lonely quality to a lot of his love songs and a lot of unique qualities to his love songs. I was wondering if you feel that his relation to his race, I find that a lot of black people at that time had trouble marrying because many of their white counterparts didn't want to marry their daughters to what they consider to be black men, even if they were a mixed race. And so I wonder if you find that in just Chevalier songs or do you feel that you find that in some other composers songs where their fight with their daily live show up also in the music? Dr. Arne Spohr: I did research on also performers, who were not composers, but who were for instance, trumpeters and trumpeters had a high status at the time associated with the prestige of princes. I worked in a case of 17th century German black trumpeter who had we don't know the reasons he had a fortune he was wealthy. He wanted to marry a woman from in a smallish town, the daughter of a civic city council member. That was in the 17th century. Her family was violently opposed to the marriage even though he was wealthy. And so they never said, all right, but it must have been his blackness, that was the reason why they opposed it so badly even though they would have benefited, oh, they benefited in fact, because they did get married eventually from his wealth. Dr. Arne Spohr: But you can see strategies of making that marriage impossible. So it is true that black composers and performers did marry but some of them had to overcome a lot obstacles. In the case of German, black musicians, it's interesting to see that they're often married daughters of families where the father had died before. So you know there was no resistance to be expected. The family of the wife had already been, "weakened." And so that's a pattern that I found. Yeah. Anthony Humans: Hi Dr. Spohr. My name is Anthony Humans. I study Music Education, Piano an organ here. I was wondering what challenges have you faced presenting this research, collecting this research and presenting this to an audience? Dr. Arne Spohr: The couple of research-related challenges that I encountered, for instance, I'm grappling and other scholars are also grappling with the question what actually is slavery. The reality of slavery in the Holy Roman Empire now the Holy Roman Empire was the patchwork like multi ethnic complex of states that preceded modern day Germany. So just as a side note. The official line of research is that there was no slavery in the Holy Roman Empire because there was no official legislation regulating slavery. Dr. Arne Spohr: Historians have said, "Okay, slavery happened somewhere else, happened in the colonies, never in Europe or never in the Holy Roman Empire." Colleagues of mine have been finding more and more instances of actually enslaved people trafficked and enslaved people in the Holy Roman Empire. The point is that those cases only come to the surface when there's a conflict and there are some lawsuit. Usually those... So there's a lot of I would call it undercover slavery going on. That makes it of course harder to understand the legal situation of these musicians investigating. So what were they, were they free, were they in some form of dependency, were they actually officially enslaved? In each case you have to really look for like signs, sometimes you look at a painting or you look at an archival document that says that someone carried a sword. So a sword would be a sign of legal freedom. So we have to look very specifically for the symbols that express legal freedom or on freedom. Dr. Arne Spohr: Then a similar issue is race. When I look in 17th century documents when I try to understand the concept of race in Germany in the 17th century, in the early 18th century, a lot of colleagues say well, there was no race at the time. It was all about class and it was a religion and so race didn't really matter because those pseudo scientific race theories that were developed in the 18th century that came much later that did not affect those people. I'm saying, okay, well, but they were still treated differently. Why was that? Why were they treated differently? Why was it discrimination? What was that prejudice? Why did this black trumpeter in Northern Germany have problems marrying? You know, you have to tease it out from the documents, you have to really understand what is going on even though there wasn't a concept of race, like as a word, they're still a difference in treatment and you have to understand that. That's another tricky ground. Dr. Arne Spohr: And then a lot of that information is scattered all over so many archives you have to travel a lot which I like you know, I like traveling, but it's also very costly and you have your network of friends and colleagues who tell you actually there is a document here, there's a document there. Then that's how you make discoveries and further discoveries. But there's digging and you start digging, there's a lot of pieces of evidence that are scattered over, literally, hundreds of archives. And so at some point, you have to say I have to make a cut and work with material that I have. Dr. Arne Spohr: Another challenge. I mean, that only happened once. Usually, the reactions from colleagues are very positive, and they say, "That's awesome." "That's fantastic." Very important. One person said to me, "Oh, now you stop working on important things." And that was a bummer. That was a really it was a shocking moment when I thought okay, there is some reservations to say it very mildly about the research I'm doing most reactions have been really, really positive. Anton Hairston: Hello, Dr. Spohr. My name is Anton Hairston and I'm a student here at Bowling Green State University studying Music Education with the coral emphasis. To continue on focusing on your research, I would like to know how you felt when you started this process when you started your research project. I would like to know how your research findings have affected you personally over time. Dr. Arne Spohr: I think that's a very wonderful personal question. Okay, I think I've sort of continued certain personality, my own personality, as scholar as I've come from Germany, with the spirit of discovery with a spirit of discovering music that has been forgotten, and that is exciting. And then now, seeing this music in a wider context of the context of race, and colonialism and injustice and oppression and sort of that tease me out from a position of being an objective musicologist and into a more political position to also learn more about the situation of black people in the United States and learn about racial injustice. I think that has most profoundly changed me as a political being and as a human being. Yeah. Jolie Sheffer: Thank you to Dr. Arne Spohr and members of the BGSU early music ensemble. Our producers for this podcast are Chris Kuvera and Marco Mendoza. Special thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Musical Arts. Research assistance for this podcast was provided by ICS interns Olivia Davis, Strati Moustakeas, Mr. Ks, Elisa Parks, Sarah Schaller and Melanie More.  

Hon var internationell toppmusiker i 35 år. Fick nog av svarta musikers osynlighet inom klassisk musik och bildade proffsiga CHINEKE!, en aldrig tidigare skådad symfoniorkester.   Tillfälligheternas spel är en programserie i fem avsnitt. I andra programmet möter vi kontrabasisten och orkesterledaren Chi-chi Nwanoku, som under många år spelade  i Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Från början var det meningen att Chi-chi Nwanoku skulle bli brittisk olympiasprinter. Men tillfälligheternas spel giorde att hon skadade knät så illa under en fotbollsmatch att karriären som sprinter var slut. Chi-chi Nwanoku hade spelat piano hela livet och vunnit en Chopin-tävling i skolan. Efter en tvåveckors sjukhusvistelse med operation av knät insisterade hennes musiklärare på att hon istället skulle ta upp ett instrument för att kunna spela i skolans symfoniorkester. Han ledde henne till ett litet rum där det stod två kontrabasar, mycket längre än Chi-chi som endast är 165 lång. -Denna utmaning älskade jag och blev kär i instrumentet omedelbart! Veckan efter hade jag min första kontrabaslektion. Det var början på resten av mitt liv. Jag bytte från benen till armarna, säger Chi-chi Nwanoku. 2015 grundade hon den professionella symfoniorkestern CHINEKE! som består av 75 musiker. CHINEKE! är Europas första professionella symfoniorkester för svarta musiker och musiker ur andra etniska minoriteter. -Vi lever i det tjugoförsta århundradet. Det borde inte vara en nyhet att det skulle finnas fler än ett svart ansikte i en orkester som spelar klassisk musik på hög nivå. Så jag bestämde mig för att göra något åt detta säger Chi-chi Nwanoku i programmet. Den 30 augusti 2017 gjorde symfoniorkestern CHINEKE! sin BBC Proms-debut i Royal Albert Hall i London. Om projektet CHINEKE! har Chi-Chi Nwanoku sagt: "Mitt syfte är att skapa ett rum där musiker ur minoritetsgrupper kan gå på scenen och känna att de räknas och hör till i ordens alla bemärkelser. Varenda musiker som känner att hudfärgen står i vägen för deras ambitioner skall känna att jag vill inspirera dem, ge dem en plattform och visa dem att musik, av vilken sort det vara månde, är till för alla människor." I CHINEKE! Foundation ingår även en ungdomsorkester för musiker mellan 11 och 18 år. De äldre musikerna fungerar som mentorer, lärare och förebilder för de unga musikerna. - Chi-chi är en fantastisk naturkraft! Denna dam har inspirerat oss alla och gett oss hopp för framtiden: Vi kan göra skillnad. Hon har fört oss samman och vi har kommit ut ur vår isolering i orkestrar och ensembler i olika länder och skapat ett enormt nätverk. Vi är henne för evigt tacksamma över detta. Det säger altviolinisten Lena Fankhauser som har Wien som sin bas. Hon, liksom alla andra musiker i CHINEKE! spelar även i flera andra ensembler. -En lördag zappade jag på tv'n och hittade en konsert med Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Jag upptäckte den svarta kontrabasisten och slogs av hur intensiv och kraftfull hennes prestation var och tänkte Herregud så fenomenal hon är! Det var min första kontakt med Chi-chi Nwanoku, berättar timpanisten Paul Philbert. I programmet spelas musik av bl a spännande svarta tonsättare som George Walker, Hannah Kendall, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Samuel Coleridge Taylor och Errolyn Wallen.   Musiklista: Lyrics for Strings George Walker, Chineke! Kevin John Edusei, Dirigent    Konsert For Violoncell Antonin Dvorak, Malaysias Filharmoni Paul Philbert, Timpani   Concerto Grosso Errollyn Wallen, Chineke!! Shaun Matthew, Dirigent   Concerto Grosso Errollyn Wallen, Chineke!! Shaun Matthew, Dirigent   Rejoice Greatly from Messiah Handel, Chineke! Soprano Jeanine De Bique Kevin John Edusei, Dirigent   Rondo in G minor, Op 94 Antonin Dvorak, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Cello. Chineke! Kevin John Edusei, Dirigent   The Spark Catchers Hannah Kendall, Chineke! Kevin John Edusei, Dirigent   Violin concerto in G Joseph Bologne, Chevalier De Saint-Georges, Chineke! Tai Murray, Violin Shaun Matthew, Dirigent   Violin concerto in G Joseph Bologne, Chevalier De Saint-Georges, Chineke! Tai Murray, Violin Shaun Matthew, Dirigent   Ballade in A minor for orchestra, Op.33 Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Chineke! , Anthony Parnther, Dirigent   penchant qui nous entraine Joseph Bologne, Chevalier De Saint-Georges, Dallet Soprano Jeanine De Bique Proms chineke! Kevin John Edusei, Dirigent   FINLANDIA (OP 26) Jean Sibelius, Kevin John Edusei/ Chineke Orchestra SIGNUM 010631, SIGCD515 Non Swedish 25-058.104-00 01.01

Hon var internationell toppmusiker i 35 år. Fick nog av svarta musikers osynlighet inom klassisk musik och bildade proffsiga CHINEKE!, en aldrig tidigare skådad symfoniorkester.   Tillfälligheternas spel är en programserie i fem avsnitt av Birgitta Tollan. I andra programmet möter vi kontrabasisten och orkesterledaren Chi-chi Nwanoku, som under många år spelade  i Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Från början var det meningen att Chi-chi Nwanoku skulle bli brittisk olympiasprinter. Men tillfälligheternas spel giorde att hon skadade knät så illa under en fotbollsmatch att karriären som sprinter var slut. Chi-chi Nwanoku hade spelat piano hela livet och vunnit en Chopin-tävling i skolan. Efter en tvåveckors sjukhusvistelse med operation av knät insisterade hennes musiklärare på att hon istället skulle ta upp ett instrument för att kunna spela i skolans symfoniorkester. Han ledde henne till ett litet rum där det stod två kontrabasar, mycket längre än Chi-chi som endast är 165 lång. -Denna utmaning älskade jag och blev kär i instrumentet omedelbart! Veckan efter hade jag min första kontrabaslektion. Det var början på resten av mitt liv. Jag bytte från benen till armarna, säger Chi-chi Nwanoku. 2015 grundade hon den professionella symfoniorkestern CHINEKE! som består av 75 musiker. CHINEKE! är Europas första professionella symfoniorkester för svarta musiker och musiker ur andra etniska minoriteter. -Vi lever i det tjugoförsta århundradet. Det borde inte vara en nyhet att det skulle finnas fler än ett svart ansikte i en orkester som spelar klassisk musik på hög nivå. Så jag bestämde mig för att göra något åt detta säger Chi-chi Nwanoku i programmet. Den 30 augusti 2017 gjorde symfoniorkestern CHINEKE! sin BBC Proms-debut i Royal Albert Hall i London. Om projektet CHINEKE! har Chi-Chi Nwanoku sagt: "Mitt syfte är att skapa ett rum där musiker ur minoritetsgrupper kan gå på scenen och känna att de räknas och hör till i ordens alla bemärkelser. Varenda musiker som känner att hudfärgen står i vägen för deras ambitioner skall känna att jag vill inspirera dem, ge dem en plattform och visa dem att musik, av vilken sort det vara månde, är till för alla människor." I CHINEKE! Foundation ingår även en ungdomsorkester för musiker mellan 11 och 18 år. De äldre musikerna fungerar som mentorer, lärare och förebilder för de unga musikerna. - Chi-chi är en fantastisk naturkraft! Denna dam har inspirerat oss alla och gett oss hopp för framtiden: Vi kan göra skillnad. Hon har fört oss samman och vi har kommit ut ur vår isolering i orkestrar och ensembler i olika länder och skapat ett enormt nätverk. Vi är henne för evigt tacksamma över detta. Det säger altviolinisten Lena Fankhauser som har Wien som sin bas. Hon, liksom alla andra musiker i CHINEKE! spelar även i flera andra ensembler. -En lördag zappade jag på tv'n och hittade en konsert med Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Jag upptäckte den svarta kontrabasisten och slogs av hur intensiv och kraftfull hennes prestation var och tänkte Herregud så fenomenal hon är! Det var min första kontakt med Chi-chi Nwanoku, berättar timpanisten Paul Philbert. I programmet spelas musik av bl a spännande svarta tonsättare som George Walker, Hannah Kendall, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Samuel Coleridge Taylor och Errolyn Wallen.

Sinfonia Salt Lake with music from Mozart and "The Black Mozart," Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-George. Featuring soprano Melissa Heath.

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.