The Untold Story of Joseph Bologne, the Prodigy known as "Black Mozart"

hello everyone and welcome back to royalty now studios where we recreate famous figures from the past and talk about their history my name is andre and i'll be your host for today's episode today we'll be talking about the massively underrated and legendary life of joseph poulon chevalier joseph was widely considered to be one of the most accomplished men in europe during his lifetime with a laundry list of talents ranging from genius violinist to europe's greatest swordsman he overcame the social stigmas of his era becoming loved admired and even envied by the likes of mozart marie antoinette and even a u.s president so let's go ahead and get started [Music] joseph poulon began his incredible life on christmas day 1745 on the french caribbean island of guadalupe his father george balon du san giorge whom i'll be calling george was a wealthy plantation owner his mother nano a senegalese woman renowned for her truly stunning beauty was the slave and personal maid of his father's wife now even though george was married and many men of the time simply disavowed any illegitimate children they had george is said to have legitimately loved joseph and his mother nano he not only acknowledged his son and gave him his surname which broke convention for the time but he also completely provided for them joseph was seven years old his father decided that he wanted better for his son he wanted to make sure that joseph got the best education he could so they left guadalupe and his mother nano and sailed to france once in paris george hired the best tutors that he could find and enrolled joseph in boarding school before leaving paris to go back home george made sure that his son would be taught to be the perfect gentleman now up to this point although wealthy george balon was still considered just a commoner in france but in 1757 he was appointed as the personal assistant to king louis xv he was made an officer in the king's guard which granted him nobility and the title of chevalier du san jose it would also allow him to further joseph's education that same year joseph was enrolled in the royal academy of fencing and horsemanship bulong rapidly became one of the best swordsmen at the academy the master at arms labor had a son who was joseph's classmate and friend throughout his years at the academy he described young joseph as well built with great physical strength supple and slim with astonishing speed no one else showed as much gracefulness and discipline by 15 years old he was beating the very best swordsman at the academy by 17 he was regarded by his peers and even la boissiere as one of the best swordsmen in europe there were others i believed a man of joseph's skin color could never be as skilled as what they would describe as a true frenchman alexander picon a fencing master from normandy sent a challenge to joseph's father asking him if he could publicly duel his mulatto now this word is used to describe a person who's of mixed african and european ancestry and although it's now dated it was incredibly offensive in france because the word as an insult and it was taken as such joseph accepted the challenge the match quickly drew a huge crowd its supporters seeing something bigger in the duel the crowd found itself divided between people who believed in the superiority of because skin color and those who did not alexander picon came to humiliate a young man and prove his supporters right after all the hype joseph would handily defeat the fencing master piccolo and even though it was just a fencing match it seemed to push public opinion just a little bit in the right direction joseph would go on to become a champion fencer he'd graduate from the academy and earn the title of chevalier meaning night in english he could finally take his father's title and for the first time in his life he was joseph poulon chevalier by this time in his life saint george was already immensely popular especially with the women of paris he was handsome athletic intelligent and graceful he was the perfect gentleman he dazzled parisian society and his company became highly valued before he was 20 years old two famous composers had already dedicated their works to him it was these friendships that may have led him to what would become the true love of his life music in 1769 bewildered parisians looked up to the stage and saw joseph poulon the best swordsman in france playing amongst the violins of one of paris's finest orchestras he had never told anyone that he could even play violin [Music] he would be concertmaster within two years meaning he was the best of the violins by 1772 he was getting standing ovations for his solo performances following year he was named the symphonies director joseph's meteoric rise through the music world of paris would make a celebrity soar to new heights it was during this time that he began to be called la mozanois which meant the black mozart joseph was free to do whatever he wanted to follow any passion that struck him thanks to his father who had never ceased his support of baloney but in 1774 georges bellong the original chevalier du sanjos passed away at his home in guadalupe in his will george had left joseph and his mother nano a healthy son but against his father's wishes and according to french law it was given instead to joseph's sister george's legitimate daughter from his marriage joseph was left only with a heart full of grief for the man who had showed him love when most would have cast him aside with no money to his name he would have to rely on his own talents to get him by luckily he had many to choose from over just the next couple of years he would participate in hundreds of duels direct the symphony perform solos upstart a genre of classical music in france composed 20 pieces of music write comedies and he once even had a boxing match in 1776 the paris opera was struggling financially and creatively was the obvious choice for the next director but once again he was reminded that not everything was about skill and that his color was something that some people just could not get by three of the opera's leading ladies presented a petition to queen marie antoinette assuring her majesty that their honor and delicate conscience could never allow them to submit to the orders of a mulatto this immediately became quite the scandal to save himself and the queen embarrassment lone would decide that he would just withdraw his name from consideration completely in response to the petition louis xvi took the opera back from the city of paris [Music] from then on marie antoinette would hold her musicals at versailles she limited the audience to only her intimate circle and a few musicians among them joseph boulogne would play his violin for them with her majesty playing along on the piano for the next few years sanjos would bounce around charming everyone in sight fighting playing and composing but what's interesting about this time is that in the summer of 1778 sanjoge and mozart would stay in the same house during this time mozart would write three better known works potentially with the help of joseph long playing his violin form by the mid-1780s saint george became the patron of his long-time friend and admirer louis philippe ii one of the wealthiest men in france and cousin to the king philippe was incredibly important in the story of the french revolution a surprisingly liberal man for someone that could be considered as royalty he was an abolitionist and true believer in democracy some historians and even people of the time have stated that he secretly funded riots and women's marches in order to begin causing instability and unhappiness in the poorer classes this palace known as palais igalite is said to have been the birthplace of the revolution during the next crucial years in the history of france saint george found himself at the side of one of its main players because of his celebrity status and charming ways felipe began to bring joseph along on political missions with him in 1787 saint george and philippe would go to england to meet the prince of wales philippe wanted to garner support in england for the abolitionist movement and since the prince was an admirer of saint george and also the future king of england the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself boulogne would pull out all of his tricks he'd play concerts for the prince at parties and do with renowned fencing masters from all over england including a famous woman named chevalier dion a french diplomat and spy in england she can be seen here with sanjoge in this famous painting to some people's surprise saint george and dion would have a thrilling match with palone whisking away with a victory but what makes this match truly interesting is that had been the second time they had faced each other the first being many years ago when dion used to live in france and identified as a man [Music] would quickly find himself a favorite of the future king and persuaded him to attend a meeting with leading abolitionists of the time on the night of the meeting alone was walking the streets of london when he was ambushed at gunpoint by four angry men unfortunately for them all bologna needed was his walking stick the greatest swordsman in europe arrived a little late to the meeting with only a bruise or two to show that anything out of the ordinary had even occurred the meeting would go well and inspire the change of views of many there in 1807 the transatlantic slave trade would be banned throughout the british empire by may of 1789 joseph had finally returned to france after two years in london but it wasn't the same city he had left the revolution was in the air panic talks began to occur all over paris by what could happen next for the briefest moment in time saint george's long time friend louis philippe was being campaigned to the people of paris as an alternative to the current monarch he was popular for feeding the poor and sheltering them and was genuinely being considered but before the idea could take hold louis xvi would have felipe and any remaining chance of peace sent away within a month the french revolution had begun as with everyone else in france the french revolution would completely alter malone's life although boulogne had enjoyed a life with wealthy friends and the company of kings and queens he'd always felt the weight of his color life liberty and especially the promise of equality would inspire belong to support the revolution in 1791 he joined the volunteer revolutionary army rising to the rank of colonel and would become the leader of the first black battalion in all of europe who were simply called la legion saint george the men would fight bravely under saint george distinguishing themselves during the austrian and netherland campaigns saint george was always willing to protect them from unnecessary death and from harsh orders and made sure that they were treated like any other soldier in 1793 sanjoj was making his way to a battle with his troops when out of nowhere he was arrested and imprisoned when he asked about the charge he was told there was none he was being imprisoned under a new decree called the law of suspects any suspected sympathizer of the monarchy would be arrested and imprisoned and since saint george had performed for the king and queen his name was put on the list over the next 13 months in what is now called the reign of terror 26 000 people would die from guillotine or in prison including marie antoinette and joseph's long-time friend louis philly joseph believed his execution was all but certain and although he had been loyal to the revolution he was denied any leniency other than the postponement of the imminent his own execution in one final stroke of luck the people of france had decided that they had seen enough death and turned on the committee that had created this law of suspects later that year joseph was finally freed while he was imprisoned slavery in france had been abolished a few months before joseph could think of nothing but his own certain death but i like to think that when he heard this news he thought of his mother nano and decided that he was finally content with his life sanjos would move to a small town outside of paris where he would spend the rest of his days directing for small orchestras and playing what he called the best violin of his life in the summer of 1799 joseph poulon chevalier du sanjos died at 53 renowned fencer prodigy violinist and the first known classical composer of african descent during his time he was called la mozanois which meant the black mozart but he truly was so much more a changer of minds and perspectives he is a driving force for the idea that we are all truly capable of greatness no matter the color of our skin [Music] so let's talk about joseph's appearance joseph sat for this portrait by artist mather brown in 1788 at the behest of the prince of wales who actually just wanted a portrait of him in his palace the portrait was considered to be frightfully accurate by those who knew him he's aptly posed with his sword with his music and his violin in the background he would have been around 43 in this portrait there are quite a few images of balon that overly anglicize him but this one is the only one that's taken from life and according to his friends it can definitely be trusted to be a true likeness there was an etched version of this exact portrait that was taken just after it and i'm going to use that one for my recreation since it was just a little higher quality so i've recreated him from his own time as well as created a modern day interpretation so let's go ahead and take a look at those now [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you all so much for watching i hope you enjoyed learning about the history of joseph ballon today he is truly one of the most underrated figures of history let us know what you think of these recreations and the history in the comments below and we'll see you all for the next video [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Royalty Now Studios

Views: 811,760

Keywords: real face of, what historical figures would look like, true face of, true faces of, real faces of historical figures, true faces of historical figures, what historical figures would look like today, royalty now, roylaty now, Chevalier de saint georges, black mozart, mozart, joseph bologne, famous composers, black composers, black man, famous black people, black history, real face of joseph bologne, joseph bologne facts, black mozart biography, black mozart facts

Id: KtKjWN73B_I

Length: 16min 22sec (982 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 17 2022