Tag Archives: Marie-Antoinette

The Momentous Flight to Varennes

16 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by in The French Revolution

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800px-Arrest_of_Louis_XVI_and_his_Family,_Varennes,_1791

Louis XVI and his family, dressed as bourgeois, arrested in Varennes. Picture by Thomas Falcon Marshall (1854)

Flight to Varennes

During the night of 20–21 June 1791, French King Louis XVI (1754 – 1793), his wife, Marie-Antoinette (1755 – 1793), their children, Louis-Charles (1785 – 1795), the dauphin, or heir apparent, and his sister Marie-Thérèse (1778 – 1851), the king’s sister Élisabeth of France (1764 – 1794) attempted to escape France. The Marquise de Tourzelle, the children’s governess, from 1789 until 1792, accompanied the royal family. As for the king’s brothers, Louis XVIII (17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824) and Charles X, they had fled. Despite their bourgeois clothing, the Royal family was recognized one stop before Varennes and arrested at Varennes. By 25 June 1789, they had returned to Paris. (See Flight to Varennes, Wikipedia.)

We know that Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette would be guillotined during the Reign of Terror, 1793 – 1794), as well as Élisabeth de France, the king’s younger sister. Moreover, Louis-Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans (13 April 1747 – 6 November 1793), of the House of Orleans, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, would also be guillotined, on 6 November 1793. Consequently, hindsight invites approval of the Royal family’s attempt to flee what seemed imminent danger.

Hindsight is also forgiving. We can understand why Louis-Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans  changed his name to Philippe Égalité. He was afraid. But did he have to vote in favour of his cousin’s execution?

But weighing against Louis XVI – Marie-Antoinette, mainly, was “collusion with the invaders,” a view supported by the flight to Varennes. (See The Trial of Louis XVI, Wikipedia.)

800px-Duplessi-Bertaux_-_Arrivee_de_Louis_Seize_a_Paris_2

The return of the royal family to Paris on 25 June 1791: colored copperplate after a drawing of Jean-Louis Prieur (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

La Fayette and the National Guard

  • 11 July 1789: Necker dismissed
  • 13 July 1789: a Bourgeois militia is formed
  • 14 July 1789: the Storming of the Bastille
  • 15 July 1789: Lafayette elected commander of the militia (The National Guard)
  • 16 July 1789: Necker reinstated

After the Tennis Court Oath, the National Assembly itself feared disorder. By and large, the French trusted Jacques Necker (30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804), but he had been replaced by the Marquis de Breteuil, on 11 July 1789. King Louis XVI’s faux pas led to immediate unrest.

On 13 July 1789, fearing disorder, the National Assembly created a Bourgeois militia and, on 15 July 1789, Lafayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834) was elected to the post of commander of the Bourgeois militia, which would become the National Guard.

Gendarmes were required. Mobs stormed the Bastille (see The Storming of the Bastille, Wikipedia). Necker was reinstated on 16 July 1789 and would not leave France until 3 September 1790.

On 6 October 1789, were it not for the intervention of the National Guard, commanded by Lafayette, a mob may have killed members of the Royal family when Louis XVI’s family was forcibly removed from Versailles. (See The Women’s March on Versailles, Wikipedia.)

Emigration & the Day of the Daggers

  • 28 February 1791: the Day of the Daggers
  • the King asks Royalists to leave the Tuileries

The Royal family had been taken to the Tuileries Palace, in Paris, a royal residence. But Louis’ aunts, Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire, had fled to Rome, as though Royalists could not protect them and as though the Royals needed protection. On The Day of the Daggers, 28 February 1791, Royalists, carrying concealed daggers, tried to enter the Tuileries to save Louis XVI and his family. Louis himself asked them to leave and those who would not leave were forcibly removed. The Royalists were dismayed.

The Champ de Mars Massacre

  • 17 June 1791: the Champ de Mars Massacre
  • 20 June 1791: the Flight to Varennes
  • 15 July 1791: the King declared inviolable

On 17 June 1791, a crowd of 50,000 gathered at the Champ de Mars to sign a petition asking for the king’s removal. The National Guard under Lafayette, opened fire. The crowd returned later in the day, led by Danton and Camille Desmoulins. The National Guard fired again, killing as many as 15.

On 20 June 1791, the Royal family attempted to flee France, but were arrested at Varennes and taken back to the Tuileries Palace. However, on 15 July 1791, the National Assembly or Legislative Assembly declared the King inviolable until the ratification of a new Constitution.

The Assembly of Notables, revisited

A Constitutional Monarchy might have saved the French monarchy, but Louis did not know what a Constitutional Monarchy was. The delegates to the Assembly of Notables would not accept a land-value tax, but they were prepared to institute changes. If accurate, I believe it is, the following quotation is very revealing:

Yet what was truly astonishing about the debates of the Assembly is that they were marked by a conspicuous acceptance of principles like fiscal equality that even a few years before would have been unthinkable….Where disagreement occurred, it was not because Calonne had shocked the Notables with his announcement of a new fiscal and political world; it was either because he had not gone far enough or because they disliked the operational methods built into the program.[1]

(See Assembly of Notables, Wikipedia.)

The Notables knew that France was nearly bankrupt and that insolvency would bring not only the downfall of France, but also their own downfall. It was to their advantage to pay taxes. Louis XVI was not as fortunate as Louis XIV. Louis XIV’s Conseil d’en haut, the King’s Council, was very small, but it consisted of bourgeois. Moreover, they met en haut, i.e. upstairs, next to the King’s chamber, at Versailles. The King did not fear them. Louis XIV feared no one except the princes du sang, the Princes of the Blood.

The Storming of the Tuileries

  • 10 August 1792: the storming of the Tuileries
  • 10 August 1792: the National Guard turns against the Royalty
  • Lafayette flees France

After the flight to Varennes, Marie-Antoinette‘s idea mostly, Louis XVI was closely guarded in the Tuileries, home to the National Assembly and, later, to the National Constituent Assembly. The Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to 20 September 1792. King Louis XVI had “betrayed the French.” The Storming of the Tuileries, on 10 August 1792, would undo the King. Britannica uses the word “irresolution.”[2] But, additionally, the National Guard had turned against the Royalty and they were joined by sans-culottes and the fédérés, marseillais (from Marseilles, hence the title of the French national anthem La Marseillaise). Militants had come to Paris for the Fête de la Fédération, 14 July 1791. Lafayette, their commander, fled France.

The Collapse of the Monarchy

  • 13 August 1792: Royal family imprisoned in the Temple
  • 20 September 1792: the Battle of Valmy
  • 21 September 1792: proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy
  • 22 September 1792: declaration of the First Republic

On 13 August 1792, the Royal family was imprisoned in the Temple, a fortress built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. There was an invasion. On 20 September 1792, the Duke of Brunswick did attack the French, but he was defeated. The Battle of Valmy was a French victory. The Monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792. (See Proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy, Wikipedia.) and France was declared a republic, the First Republic, on 22 September 1792.

“Collusion with the invaders”

As I wrote above, weighing against Louis XVI, or Marie-Antoinette, was “collusion with the invaders.” (See The Trial of Louis XVI, Wikipedia.) Louis XVI was executed on the grounds that he was a traitor. The King had tried to flee France, but could he tell that leaving France could be construed as treason, the worst of crimes. Revolutionaries did fear intervention from Royal families outside France and the flight to Varennes led to the Brunswick Manifesto (25 July 1792) and the Declaration of Pillnitz (27 August 1791). Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792), the Declaration’s main author, was Marie-Antoinette’s brother. Leopold may have wished to rescue his sister. She had attempted to leave France. Leopold II died on 1st March 1792.

Conclusion

The flight to Varennes sealed the Royal family’s fate. King Louis XVI had attempted to flee France, which the King of France could not do. One can understand King Louis XVI’s fears and Marie-Antoinette was adamant. But can one understand the Reign of Terror?

Love to everyone ♥

Tour_du_Temple_circa_1795_Ecole_Francaise_18th_century (1)

The Temple, a view of the Grosse Tour-circa 1795, École Française 18th century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

RELATED ARTICLES

Abbey Sieyès’ The Third Estate (6 August 2018)
Cleric, Knight and Workman (31 July 2018)
The Tennis Court Oath (8 February 2014)
The Church of France & French Revolution (cont’d) (6 May 2014)
The Church of France during the French Revolution (2 May 2014)

Sources and Resources

Britannica, various entries
Wikipedia Timeline of the French Revolution & other entries
Chronology of the French Revolution (online)
Proclamation of the Duke of Brunswick or Brunswick Manifesto (online)
Major Events in the French Revolution (sutori.com)
Hilaire Belloc’s French Revolution (Internet Archive)
Thomas Carlisle’s The French Revolution is Gutenberg’s [EBook #1301]
M. Mignet’s History of the French Revolution from 1789 – 1814 is Gutenberg’s [EBook #9602]
… .

—ooo—

Below are the names of members of the Royal family who were executed and the date on which each one died.

House of Bourbon
Louis XVI: 21 January 1793, aged 38
Marie-Antoinette: 16 Otober 1793, aged 37
Elisabeth de France: 10 May 1794, aged 30

House of Orleans
Louis-Philippe II, duc d’Orléans: 6 November 1793, aged 46

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[1] See Note 7 in Assembly of Notables, Wikipedia
[2] “Louis XVI,” Albert Goodwin and Jeremy David Popkin, Encyclopædia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-XVI

Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine (words & translation)

Tour_du_Temple_circa_1795_Ecole_Francaise_18th_century (1)

Le Temple, Paris

© Micheline Walker
16 August 2018
WordPress

 

Pastorals: of Shepherds & Shepherdesses

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Art, Literature

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Giorgione, Pastoral Concert. Louvre, Paris. A work which the Louvre now attributes to Titian, c. 1509.[9]

Giorgione, Pastoral Concert. Louvre, Paris. A work which the Louvre now attributes to Titian, c. 1509. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giorgione, born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (c. 1477/8–1510)
Titian, born Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576)
(Italian High Renaissance)

Pastorals: a Genre and a Movement

Pan is the “Greek god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs” (Pan, Wikipedia) whose Roman counterpart is Faunus as well as Lupercus, the god of Shepherds.

Greek and Roman Antiquity: Theocritus and Virgil

Pan is also the god of all things “pastoral,” such as pastoral music.  The Pastorale is a form of Italian music and the word “pastoral” is also used to describe Beethoven’s 6th symphony.  Moreover there is pastoral literature.

Pastoral literature is rooted in Greek and Roman Antiquity, as is the Lupercalia.  Its two Greek and Roman authors are Theocritus[i] (born c. 300 bc, Syracuse, Sicily [Italy]—died after 260 bc), the creator of pastoral poetry[ii], and Virgil.[iii]  Virgil or Vergil wrote not only the Aeneid, but also the Egloges or Bucolics and the Georgics.  The Egloges can be read online at Egloges, a Gutenberg publication.

Closer to us pastoral literature begins with Battista Guarini‘s bucolic tragicomedy Il Pastor Fido[iv] (1580 to 1585), The Faithful Shepherd, set in Arcadia, literally, a region of Greece; metaphorically, an idyllic countryside.

La Préciosité: French 17th-Century Salons

Moreover, pastoral, also describes the “perfect” world of 17th-century salonniers and salonnières who made believe they were shepherds and shepherdesses.  Préciosité was escapism at its worst or its best, depending on one’s point of view.  Seventeenth-century Précieuses (literally, precious) put such a high price on marriage and sexuality, that they often made suitors wait a very long time.  French dramatist Molière[v] ridiculed the Précieuses in Les Précieuses ridicules (Théâtre du Petit-Bourbon, 18 November 1659).

Préciosité was a lifestyle.  It was courtly love carried to an extreme, i.e. platonic love precluding sexuality.  Préciosité is therefore at the opposite end of the Lupercalia which celebrated fertility.  Lupercus was god of shepherds, but not the imaginary shepherds and shepherdesses of précieux convention, nor the raucous Luperci of the Lupercalia, but Christopher Marlowe‘s well-mannered yet “passionate” shepherd, associated with courtly love, idyllic love that does not exclude sexuality.

Christopher Marlowe’s Shepherds and Sheperdhesses

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love by Christopher Marlowe (baptised on 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593) is perhaps the most celebrated of English pastoral poems:

Come live with me and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
 
There will we sit upon the rocks
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
 
(Pastoral, Wikipedia) 

 

 

Marie-Antoinette & Geoffrey Chaucer

Earlier in my new career as blogger, I wrote a post about Marie-Antoinette, an accomplished musician who composed a lovely “pastorale” that straddles the less rigid conventions of courtly love and Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.”  Courtly love’s masterpiece, sometimes considered too daring, is the Roman de la Rose, The Romaunt of the Rose, an allegory of love translated, though not in its entirety, by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Valentine’s Day

Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) can in fact be credited with the birth of Valentine’s Day as we know it, a matter discussed in my next post.  However, Chaucer was influenced by a tapestry, La Dame à la licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn), housed at the Cluny Museum, in Paris.  The Unicorn is a mythical animal that can only be captured by a virgin.  However, the Unicorn is also a trans–cultural figure, hence multi-faceted.

RELATED ARTICLES 

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[i] “Theocritus”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590569/Theocritus>.
 
[ii] “Pastoral literature”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia BritannicaOnline.  Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/446078/pastoral-literature>.
 
[iii] “Virgil”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629832/Virgil/24449/Literary-career>.
 
[iv] Battista Guarini (born 10 Dec. 1538, Ferrara—died 7 Oct. 1612, Venice) and Torquato Tasso (born 11 March 1544, Sorrento, Kingdom of Naples [Italy]—died 25 April 1595, Rome) are “credited with establishing the form of a new literary genre, the pastoral drama.” (See footnote [ii].)
 
[v] born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, baptised 15 January 1622 –  17 February (1673).
 
 
composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827)
piece: “Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, “Pastoral,” 4th and 5th movements, “the Storm”
performers: Wiener Philharmoniker
conductor: Karl Böhm (28 August 1894 in Graz – 14 August 1981 in Salzburg)
featured artist: Albert Bierstadt (7 January 1830 – 18 February 1902)
 
Cabbage and Vine, by Morris,

Cabbage and Vine, by William Morris

  © Micheline Walker
  14 February 2013
  WordPress

“Plaisir d’amour” Revisited

20 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

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perfomers: Claire Lefilliâtre, Brice Duisit, Isabelle Druet
group: Le Poème Harmonique
conductor: Vincent Dumestre
 
Related blogs:
“C’est mon ami,” composed by Marie-Antoinette
“Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Kathleen Battle
Photo credit: Wikipedia  
 
Marie-Antoinette, by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
“Ma Rose”
(please click on the picture to enlarge it) 

On the 13th of August 2012, I posted a blog on “Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Marian Anderson: “Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Kathleen Battle.  New information surfaced when I wrote about “Le Roi a fait battre tambour.”  As a result we need an update. 

The Dates: circa…

Marian Anderson’s rendition of Plaisir d’amour remains delightful, but it is different.  As for the date given by above, 1785, it may be the date “Plaisir d’amour” was first performed, but it may be safer to write c. 1785.  According to my earlier post, the lyrics, or poem, were written in 1780, now c. 1780, by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian.   But the lyrics were not set to music until 1784 or c. 1784, by Jean Paul Égide Martini.

From Paul Aegidius Schwarzendorf to J. P. É. Martini

Composer Jean Paul Égide Martini, also known as Martini Il Tedesco, was born in Freystadt, Bavaria and his birth-name is Johann Paul Aegidius Schwarzendorf (31 August 1741 – 10 February 1816).  Martini changed his name when he arrived in France.  Martini Il Tedesco or Il Tedesco Martini would mean the German Martini.

The Revival of Ancient Music

However, what I should underline is the current revival of Baroque music and ancient music, interpreted using the instruments of that era in music, the seventeenth century or 1600 to 1730/50.  Eras in music overlap and going from era to era does not necessarily mean progress.  The same is true of eras in the fine arts.

The leader in the revival of Baroque or early music is Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born January 14, 1942, in Igualada, Spain), known as Jordi Savall.  I became aware of his effort when I saw Alain Corneau‘s Tous les matins du monde.[ii]  a 1991 film about composers Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais, 17th-century French musicians.

The music Savall adapted and performed for Alain Corneau‘s film earned him a César (a French Oscar) from the French film industry in 1992 and the soundtrack to this film sold more than a million copies worldwide (Wikipedia).  There is a song entitled Sur tous les chemins du monde.

Poème Harmonique’s Vincent Dumestre is also engaged in a revival, but he seems to be focussing on songs.  He is recording old songs as they were performed when they were composed.  It is in this respect that Claire Lefilliâtre‘s rendition differs from Marian Anderson’s and vice versa.

Plaisir d’amour

Lyrics for Plaisir d’amour

Refrain:
Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment.
Chagrin d’amour dure toute la vie.
The pleasure of love lasts only a moment.
The pain of love lasts a lifetime.
 
1)
J’ai tout quitté pour l’ingrate Sylvie.
Elle me quitte pour prendre un autre amant.
I left everything for the ungrateful Sylvia.
She is leaving me for another lover.
Refrain 
 
2)
“Tant que cette eau coulera doucement,
Vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,
Je t’aimerai”, me répétait Sylvie.
L’eau coule encore, elle a changé pourtant.
“As long as this water runs gently
Towards the brook that borders the meadow,
I will love you,” Sylvia said repeatedly.
The water still runs, but she has changed.
Refrain
_________________________
© Micheline Walker
20 September 2012
WordPress
 
[i] translation: Every Morning in the World.
 

Le Chevalier de Saint-George: the Black Mozart

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Mulatto, Music

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Satire of fencing duel between Monsieur de Saint-George et Mademoiselle la Chevalière d’Éon de Beaumont, Carlton House.  Engraved by Victor Marie Picot based on the original work of Charles Jean Robineau.

In Wikipedia’s entry on Joseph Bologne, mention is made of “a famous portrait of him [Saint-George] crossing swords in an exhibition match with the French transvestite spy-in-exile, the Chevalier d’Éon, in the presence of the Prince of Wales, Britain’s future king George IV.”  The famous portrait is the above “satire.”

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Allow me to begin this post by speaking of the two Mozarts: the white Mozart or Amadeus, and the black Mozart, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George.

When Mozart, the white Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was in Paris, in 1777-1778, he was influenced by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George.  One would expect the white Mozart to have influenced the black Mozart, but that was not the case.  However, the two differ in that the career of the black Mozart (December 25, 1745 – June 10, 1799) was affected by his ethnicity and the French Revolution.  Three divas opposed his appointment as director of the Royal Opera because he was a mulatto.

However, by then, Joseph had commissioned and premièred Haydn six “Paris Symphonies” and he had met the white Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus during his 1777-1778 visit to Paris. It is during his stay in Paris that the former Wolfgang Theophilus, the white Mozart, lost his mother. She had accompanied him on this tour, but was taken ill and died on 3 July 1778. Wolfgang was 22 at that time and Joseph, 33.

However the French Revolution all but destroyed Joseph whose patrons were Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. As we know, he was Marie-Antoinette’s music teacher.  Marie-Antoinette composed “C’est mon ami,” a lovely pastoral song.

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: L’amant anonyme (1780), 
Ballet Nº 1

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George: Violin Concerto in C major, Op. 5, Nº 1

Joseph Boulogne: Symphony in G major, Op.11, Nº 1

Related blogs:
Le Chevalier de Saint-George: Reviving a Legend, cont’d
Le Chevalier de Saint-George: Reviving a Legend
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges & the News
Le Chevalier de Saint-George: the Black Mozart
“C’est mon ami,” composed by Marie-Antoinette (lyrics by Florian)
“Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Kathleen Battle (lyrics by Florian)
The News & the Music of Frederick the Great
The Duc de Joyeuse: Louis XIII as a Composer
Terminology, the Music of Louis XIII & the News (eras in the history of music) 
 
The Chevalier de Saint-George in a 1787 painting probably commissioned by the future George IV of the United Kingdom.
 
© Micheline Walker
September 14, 2012
WordPress
 
 
 
 

Le Chevalier de Saint-George: the Black Mozart

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Mulatto, Music

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La Gavotte

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (1745–1799)
 

Joseph Bologne was born in Guadeloupe, in 1745, and was educated both in Guadeloupe and in France.  In Saint-Domingue, Joseph had studied music with the black violinist Joseph Platon.  But after his family emigrated to France, in 1752, he was enrolled in a private academy and is believed to have been a pupil of Antonio Lolli, one of the finest Italian violinists of the eighteen century.  As for composition, it would appear that his mentor was Francois Joseph Gossec, a fine composer remembered for writing a lovely gavotte, a piece of music often incorporated in a suite or a partita, but rooted in a French folk dance.[i]

Joseph Bologne at Versailles

As we know already, in France, his musical talent opened the best possible doors.  Joseph Bologne was Marie-Antoinette’s music teacher and became the maestro of the Concert des Amateurs,[ii] “a title of extreme respect given to a master musician” (Wikipedia).  He was then appointed director of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the largest orchestra of his time (65-70 musicians).

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George

The World Première of Haydn’s Paris Symphonies, but the divas…

It is in his capacity as director of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, that he directed the world première of Haydn’s six “Paris Symphonies”  which had been commissioned by the Concert de la Loge Olympique.  So, as a denizen of Versailles, Joseph Bologne met Haydn and he also met the white Mozart.  He is one individual whose talent helped override ethnicity, but not altogether.  When Saint-George was appointed director of the Royal Opera of Louis XVI, three divas opposed Saint-George‘s appointment because he was a mulatto.

The Mulatto

Being a mulatto had already been a threat in Joseph’s life.  Before Joseph’s father emigrated to France, he had to flee Guadeloupe where he was suspected of murder.  He sought refuge in France to prevent Nanon and Joseph from being sold as slaves.  Moreover, on 5 April 1762, King Louis XV decreed that people of color, nègres and mulattos, had to register with the clerk of the Admiralty.  Both Nanon and Joseph were registered.  Nanon was registered as being 34 years old.  As for Joseph, he was mistakenly registered as Joseph Boulogne by La Boëssière, his master of arms.  It could be that, by then, Georges, Joseph’s father, had returned to Guadeloupe.  After the Seven Years’ War, France had chosen to keep Guadeloupe rather than New France.

Joseph as Swordsman and Equestrian

His career as a musician may have suffered because of the divas’s refusal to be seen next to a mulatto, but Joseph has other talents.  La Boëssière had a fine student.  Joseph became one of the finest swordsmen in Europe, if not the finest, as well as an extraordinary equestrian.  His talents and reputation as an athlete served him well when divas rejected him.  He excelled as an athlete and it brought him recognition.

Joseph as Soldier

But Joseph de Bolo(u)gne is remembered not as an athlete but as a prolific composer of the classical era (Haydn, Mozart and early Beethoven).  His compositions are listed in his Wikipedia entry.  Joseph served in the army of the Revolution against France’s foreign enemies, but he is not known to have participated in the misfortune of his student, Marie-Antoinette, and her husband.  On the contrary, his father having been ennobled in 1757, Joseph was an aristocrat at a time in history when aristocrats were almost systematically executed.

False Accusations

Technically speaking, Joseph de Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George survived the French Revolution, but barely.  In 1793, he was accused of using “public funds for personal gain.”  (Wikipedia).  He was acquitted, but in the meantime he had spent 18 months in jail and upon his release, he no longer had patrons.  Most had been guillotined.  Joseph did direct orchestras on a few occasions, but too few.  He died a poor man, in 1799 at the age of 54.

I have not paid much attention to Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George’s role in the military.  Moreover I do not know why Napoléon ordered that the Chevalier’s works be destroyed.  I need to read the books that are now being published on Joseph Bologne.  These and CDs of his music are available from Amazon.com.  Moreover, there are  biographical videos on YouTube.  I will insert them in a separate post.

Conclusion

In the history of music, Joseph de Bologne is considered an important figure not only because of the music he composed, but also because he was one of the earliest black musicians to compose what we call “classical music.”  In fact, he composed during the “classical era” (1730-1820).  But his story is nevertheless rather sad.  His rise to success was extremely rapid, but he was a mulatto, the ‘black Mozart.’  Moreover, he was jailed for a crime he had not committed.

Related Blogs: 
“C’est mon ami,” composed by Marie-Antoinette (lyrics by Florian)
“Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Kathleen Battle (lyrics by Florian)
The News & the Music of Frederick the Great
The Duc de Joyeuse: Louis XIII as a Composer
Terminology, the Music of Louis XIII & the News (eras in the history of music)
 
© Micheline Walker
September 12, 2012
WordPress 
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[i] Many folk dances found their way into suites and variations, but some were also solo pieces.  For instance, although a polonaise may be found in a suite, Chopin used it as a solo piece. The same is true of his mazurkas, not to mention the gavotte and the folía, folies d’Espagne, found in Baroque music (1600–1760).  What seems particularly important here is the link between dance and music.     
 
[ii] In eighteenth-century France, an “amateur de musique” was a lover of music. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven were “amateurs de musique.”  French is changing. The word may now be used to differentiate professional musicians from musicians who are not professionals. 
 

“C’est mon ami,” composed by Marie-Antoinette

06 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in France, History

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Le Petit Trianon, built for Madame de Pompadour, given to Marie-Antoinette

 

C’est mon ami

C’est mon ami is a delightful song composed by Marie-Antoinette (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793).  It is discussed in a blog which you may like to see.  The link to this blog is Tea at Trianon C’est mon ami.[i]  The blog Tea at Trianon is devoted to several aspects of Marie-Antoinette‘s life.  As for this article, it is less ambitious.  I will focus mainly on the song (music and lyrics), but will point out first that:

Marie-Antoinette’s reputation needs rehabilitation.  The Marie-Antoinette we know is a queen who was not sensitive to the needs of the French nation at a time when the French could barely put bread on their table.  However, the “let them eat cake” is probably apocryphal and although rumour has it that she was a lesbian, which may be true, this information is mostly irrelevant.  She was, however, extremely slow in consummating her marriage to Louis XVI.

It is true that although she married the Dauphin,[ii] Louis XVI, in 1770, at the age of 15, the marriage was not officially consummated until the 30 August 1777, three years after the death of Louis XV.  Marie-Antoinette was then 22.  She gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, called Madame Royale, on the 19 December 1778.  On the 22 October 1781, she gave birth to a son, Louis Joseph Xavier François, Dauphin of France.  After the birth of the Dauphin, her duties as the wife of Louis XVI, a king, had been fulfilled.  

It is also true that she was a victim.  Marie-Antoinette was condemned to death and executed by guillotine on 16 October 1793, nine months after the execution, by guillotine, of Louis XVI, her husband.  Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793.  Neither should have suffered such a terrible fate.

Marie-Antoinette by Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun

Marie-Antoinette as Composer

Which takes us to Marie-Antoinette’s gifts, the most important of which was music. Marie-Antoinette loved music and was a composer.  Recordings have been made of her music.  You will find a list of recent recordings by clicking on Music or on the following link: http://www.ladyreading.net/marieantoinette/mus-en.html.

In Austria, Marie-Antoinette had studied under composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, whose patron she became as Queen of France.  However, in France, her teacher was le Mozart noir, Joseph Bo(u)logne, Chevalier de Saint-George (25 December 1745 – June 10, 1799), a prolific composer, born in Guadeloupe to a white French plantation owner, Georges Bologne de Saint-George, and to Nanon, a Wolof former slave.

Joseph de Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George

Marie-Antoinette composed the music to C’est mon ami and Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian set lyrics to her music.  It has been suggested that Marie-Antoinette wrote both the music and the song, which, to my knowledge, has not been confirmed.  I am providing links to related blogs, but the pleasant surprise is the short song.

Related blogs:

“Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Marian Anderson (lyrics by Florian)
The News & the Music of Frederick the Great
The Duc de Joyeuse: Louis XIII as a Composer
Terminology, the Music of Louis XIII & the News
 
The English translation is mostly literal and based on a translation found in a comment following the author’s post, at:
http://teaattrianon.blogspot.ca/2007/09/cest-mon-ami.html 
 

C’est mon ami

C’est mon ami is a bucolic or pastoral song.  Mon ami, my friend, is a shepherd.  The song therefore belongs to a tradition dating back to Giovanni Battista Guarini‘s Pastor Fido (The Faithful Shepherd), published in 1590.  The tradition was kept alive in various seventeenth-century salons where salonniers and salonnières enjoyed making believe they were shepherds and shepherdesses.  It was also kept alive in L’Astrée, a lenghty novel written by Honoré d’Urfée (11 February 1568 – 1 June 1625) over several years and published between 1607 and 1627.

In the Petit Trianon, a small castle built for Madame de Pompadour  (29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764)[iii] but given to Marie-Antoinette by Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette liked to imagine she was a shepherdess.  The castle had been built on the grounds of Versailles.  So here is our pastoral song.

1)
Ah s’il est dans votre village
Un berger sensible et charmant
Qu’on chérisse au premier moment
Qu’on aime ensuite davantage
Ah, if there is in your village / a sensitive and charming shepherd / whom one cherishes from the first moment / and then loves even more
Refrain
C’est mon ami
Rendez-le moi
J’ai son amour
Il a ma foi
He is my friend / Give him back to me / I have his love / He has my faith
2)
Si par sa voix douce et plaintive
Il charme l’écho de vos bois
Si les accents de son hautbois
Rendent la bergère pensive
If with his sweet and plaintive voice / He charms the echo of your forest / if the accents of his oboe / make the shepherdess pensive (wondering)
Refrain
C’est encore lui…  It’s him again 
3)
Si même n’osant rien vous dire
Son seul regard sait attendrir
Si sans jamais faire rougir
Sa gaité fait toujours sourire
If even not daring to tell you anything / By merely looking at you he can touch you / if without ever making you blush / his cheerfulness always makes you smile
Refrain
C’est bien lui…  It’s him…
4)
Si passant près de sa chaumière
Le pauvre en voyant son troupeau
Ose demander un agneau
Et qu’il obtienne encore la mère
If passing by his cottage / and seeing his flock / a poor man dares ask for a lamb /  And also gets the Lamb’s Mother
Refrain
Oui c’est bien lui…  Yes it’s him…
 
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[i] There are several websites devoted to Marie-Antoinette as composer.

[ii] During the Ancien Régime, before the French Revolution, the heir to the throne was called the Dauphin.

[iii] Madame de Pompadour (29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764) was Louis XV’s chief mistress from 1745 until her death.  She died of tuberculosis before the Petit Trianon was completed.  However, she participated in designing it.  Her most notorious successor as chief mistress (Maîtresse-en-titre) was Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793).  The poor woman was executed by guillotine.

Photo credit: Wikipedia (all pictures) 
    
© Micheline Walker
6 September 2012
WordPress 
 
singer: Yvonne Printemps