The Black Mozart Read online

  It was just amazing how all of this brutality and barbarity could flourish on this beautiful island of coconut trees, palm trees and soft breezes! But it did!

  This behavior seems to have been unique to San Domingo. I have never read or heard of this kind of madness in North America, which had many more slaves.

  The madness continued for one hundred and fifty years, until the slaves began to revolt. This will be described in greater detail later.

  Monsieur Bologne decided to take his family to Paris. It is not clear why he left, but witnessing this nightmare, which was contrary to his nature, must have played a part. Saint-Georges was 10 years old when they left the beautiful island that, he felt, without slavery would have been his paradise.

  Saint-Georges was too young to anticipate his reception in a world completely dominated and numbered by whites like his father. He probably did not realize that being the son of a black woman would follow him all his life. This would have been a great deal to think about for a 10-year-old. And certainly neither his father nor his mother could have realized that fate would designate Saint-Georges a great man of the 18th century. For who knows what would have happened to Saint-Georges had his father remained on the island? He could have become more and more bitter and might have behaved like Toussaint L'Ouverture, or he could have taken advantage of his position and became an aristocratic mulatto and a slave owner, like many other mulattos.

  Roger de Beauvoir, in his novel Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, states that Saint-Georges knew Toussaint as a boy and had a fight with him. This was possible since the two boys were about the same age. Many years later, when Saint-Georges visited the island of San Domingo, he probably did meet Toussaint, but this time they were both great and well-known men.4

  Also, according to Roger de Beauvoir, Saint-Georges and his mother were not taken to France by M. Bologne. Rather he supposedly ran away to Paris from the island. This certainly was not the case. Imagine a 10 year-old or in M. de Beauvoir's novel, a 13 year-old mulatto boy, getting all the way to Paris alone. In Beauvoir's novel, we later find Saint-Georges at 21 years of age, refined, and rather wealthy. With no plausible explanation of how he attained such a complete education and money.

  I will occasionally refer to M. de Beauvoir's novel since there are many documented facts in it. Also, maybe one can see how history became history and facts became facts. As G. Orwell convinced us, it all depends on who's writing it. After Saint-Georges' arrival in Paris, we can more reliably document his evolution.

  There were different opinions as to St.-Georges' birth date. There was a consensus, even mentioned as fact by almost all who wrote about Saint-Georges, that he was born on December 25, 1745. Only Gaston Bourgeois in his Le Chevalier de Saint Georges Inexactitudes Commise Par Ses Biographes in 1949 (Inaccuracies Committed by his Biographers) suggests that Saint-Georges was born between 1738 and 1739.5 Odet Denys, who has written the only complete biography of Saint-Georges since Roger de Beauvoir, claiming it to be the most accurate, gives Saint-Georges' birthday as 1739. It is now accepted that he was born in 1739.

  There is also disagreement as to who his father was and the spelling of the surname Bologne. Roger de Beauvoir in his novel does not even mention the father of Saint-Georges, until Saint-Georges is a grown man, famous and rich, living in Paris. According to most sources, his father was Jean-Nicholas de Boulogne or Boullongne, adviser to the King in his Parliament of Metz, Intendant of Finances in May, 1744, and on the 25th of August, 1757, named Controller General of Finances of his Majesty, that is to say, Secretary of State of Finances. Again, according to Gaston Bourgeois, Saint-Georges' father was of the branch of Boullongne of Beauvaisis, who had a common origin with the illustrious Boullongne painters of Paris. Further, his first name was Guillaume-Pierre, born at Orléans on the 17th of June, 1770. And again, I use as my main source of information for the early years of Saint-Georges Odet Denys' biography. He says that Saint-Georges' father was Monsieur Bologne Saint-Georges, Gentleman of the Chamber of the King.

  According to Allan Bradley, St. Georges' father was George de Bologne St. Georges.6 He says that the Bologne family traced its ancestry to Bologne, Italy, hence the family name. George Bologne married Elizabeth-Françoise Jeanne Mérican on September 8, 1739. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, born on January 21, 1740, making St.-Georges one year older than his half-sister. She lived in Paris during St.-Georges' lifetime. Of course, he had to have known her because they came over on the same ship. They lived for a time in the same house. This is a missing and mysterious part of his life that no biographer has tried to treat. It would be so interesting to know some factual details of their adult relationship. What did she think of her older brother who was bigger than life in the great city of Paris? Did she deny him, fearing her status might be diminished? I would love to know the answers.

  Roger de Beauvoir presents pages and pages of graphic details, which, according to all my sources, must have been pure invention. But remember, his is a historical novel. Also, remember that before the publication of Denys' biography in 1972, Roger de Beauvoir's novel was the only complete book about Saint-Georges, which probably accounts for the other biographers repeating these unsubstantiated "facts".

  Chapter II

  Becoming a Gentleman in Paris

  The Bologne family arrived in Paris around 1749. They moved into a luxury house in one of the finer neighborhoods. St.-Georges and La belle Nanon must have been shocked by the new sights that were so different from the island. The climate made the biggest difference. Paris had cobbled stone streets that made the horses hoofs and carriage wheels sound loud. The elegant carriages were very different from the ones in Guadeloupe, although they did have a few fine ones there, too. However, the weather made the covered ones too hot in Guadeloupe, whereas in Paris, they needed them for the cold, damp weather. In Guadeloupe, the houses were wood-framed with much land and greenery between. The next house or farm could not be seen without a long ride. In Paris, except for the very rich, people lived in apartments.

  Detail of Record

  The cultural differences were extreme. Paris had its operas, concert halls, ice-skating rinks and huge parties held by the rich and noble classes. Many of the rich in Paris inherited their money. Others made money, but did not get their hands dirty. Many made money from the slave trade but did not have to witness its brutality and inhumanity. The rich in the islands were managers or owners of great estates and were in direct contact with their businesses of raising cocoa and sugarcane and the buying and selling of slaves. They did not have the operas, concerts, and the many distractions of the rich in Paris. Maybe they were so brutal because they didn't have the distractions of Paris. They had too much time on their hands to think of new ways to punish their slaves.

  This new life presented great changes and adjustments for the Bologne family, especially St.-Georges, la belle Nanon and little Elizabeth.

  For the next three years, I have no information about St.-Georges's life, or La belle Nanon's, or what M. Bologne did for business or pleasure. Here we can realistically imagine Saint-Georges absorbing the Parisian life and becoming more French than Antillean, and more Parisian, as Parisians considered themselves different and better than other French people, as they do today.

  From age thirteen, until his death, much of Saint-Georges' public life can be documented with reasonable accuracy. Since he was such an extraordinary and sometimes controversial figure, there are still different versions of some incidents in his life; I will try to give the version I found to be more plausible.

  At the age of thirteen, he was boarded at the school of La Boëssière, where he received the sort of education that a rich father could provide. He was busy every morning in earnest study of the masters of literature, science, music, language and dance. The rest of the day was spent in the weapons room. At age fifteen, he vanquished the strongest fencers; at the age of seventeen, he had acquired an agility of movem
ent which baffled the great fencing masters. It was in 1754, when Saint-Georges was about fifteen years old and making his mark as a fencer, that France saw the birth of the heir to the throne. On August 23, 1754, a son was born to Louis XV, who would later become King Louis XVI.

  By the age of nineteen, Saint-Georges had developed a fine athletic body. He had great strength, agility and speed. He excelled in every sport and physical endeavor. He was the most graceful and proficient fencer; a great runner and a marvelous horse-back rider. He was known to ride the most difficult horses bareback better than most with a saddle. In the winter, when the Seine was frozen, people would gather to watch him ice skate with the same grace as Saint-Georges, the fencer and dancer. As a marksman with a pistol, he rarely missed the target. There had never been a man so gifted physically.

  At an early age, he showed a great interest in music and, as in most endeavors which he pursued, he excelled. Because of his obvious talent, he became a student of Jean-Marie Leclair.

  He studied the violin and became very accomplished in a short time. Other musicians were amazed at his talent and marveled at how he mastered the difficult instrument in such a short time. But the art in which he surpassed his contemporaries and predecessors, was fencing.

  The greatest accolade regarding Saint-Georges the fencer comes from the fencing master himself. La Boëssière, in his Traité de L'Art Des Armes (Treatise on the Art of Fencing) proclaimed that:

  Saint-Georges was endowed with extraordinary strengths, with extraordinary vigor. Lively, flexible, slender, he was astonishing by his alertness. No one ever in the art of fencing displayed more grace, more steadiness. He had superb style, his hand held up to the highest, rendered him always master of the weak side of his adversary; his left foot, solidly planted, never wavered, and his right leg remained constantly perpendicular. This combination of skills provided him with that coolness which permitted him to raise himself up at the same time to recover immediately with the swiftness of a flash of lightning.

  He was admired particularly in his manner of shadow-fencing; he was so sure of his skills that he instinctively touched on both sides and frankly, while observing all the principles. His quarte1 on the weapons were especially astonishing. He was even more surprising when the sword engaged inside; he would find himself at a good reach and en garde2 for the attack. He recommended not to shake or move, taking it upon himself not to make any false move before starting. If by chance he took the least time, the blow did not count. He executed the blow of quarte sur les armes3 with such precision, touching and repassing his foil in his left hand with so much quickness that the defender would not have the time to meet the iron for the parry4.

  One can imagine what a fencer with such speed can do, who can call his thrust beforehand or at will, from a far-reaching range!

  Who always stood apart with one of the most imposing guards. If one wished to take his sword, one found nothing. His point had such lightness that one could not feel it. If unfortunately one wished to loose one's temper, he was stopped thrust before his feet had touched the ground; finally one dared not attempt anything. The straight blows, the disengagement succeeded one another and overpowered you.

  Managing his speed well, he would use it with a sure blow. Against an adversary who was skilled in parrying well, he only fenced after having fait un temp5, in order to pass a blow of lightness at the moment when one touched bladed. It is known that in fencing on the bend, however adept that one is, one can withdraw too late, and be parried; in consequence, one must try to squeeze, and to interrupt the bend at anytime whatever: this is what Saint-Georges used to execute with great precision. It was impossible to match him blow for blow, however determine one might be.

  He was in control at all times, and never fenced without assuring himself of a sword.

  If he realized that he might be opposed with unethical tricks, the sword was upset by crossings, and clashing so vigorously and so elastic, that the arms were broken from it. Let one judge by these hardy developments which would follow, as well as the coup de temps6 and the stop thrusts which followed each other like streaks of lightning.

  He used to reserve for the strongest the stop thrust and the coup de temps, saving for himself only the parry and the riposte7, and no one could touch him. In this exercise where he displayed all the grace and all the skills that nature had given him, he would surprise the spectators.

  As one sees him, Saint-Georges had arrived at an ideal perfection, which up to the present has not yet been attained by anyone. One can say that his epoch was the apex of the art of fencing. Masters and students distinguished themselves alike in this by the same perfection, although to lesser degrees.

  One had arrived at such suppleness of movements, one had so light and so reserved a hand that one would not put his sword into the body of the adversary, that one wished to put it into. Their intention was to lay each other out under the pale and trembling light of a street lantern.1

  La Boëssière also said about Saint-Georges that: Racine created Phèdre and I created Saint-Georges, praise a little excessive, but which confirms however a reputation that all the fencers of the period have acknowledged unchangeable.

  Saint-Georges left M. de La Boëssière at the age of nineteen.

  Because of M. Bologne's position as a gentleman, his son, in spite of his color, was able to enter the high society as a gentleman. He frequented the well-known salons of the time, where he encountered the rich and famous of Paris. He was readily accepted. His excellent education and his charming manners brought him much success. His handsome body and his sensuous heart certainly aided him in his association with the ladies of his class. The combination of his physique, his gentleness, his goodness, his charm; made him irresistible to women. Women liked him immediately and his success with them became legendary.

  Shortly after he left M. de La Boëssière's school, he entered the Company of the Musketeers. Yet, the prejudices against men of color, and the cutting remarks of his comrades forced him to resign.

  Gaston Bourgeois in his Le Chevalier De Saint-Georges, Inexactitudes Commises Par Ses Biographes, said that Saint-Georges could not have entered the Musketeers because:

  All the musketeers were gentlemen; and the cadets from the greatest families prided themselves in serving in this elite company. Well, Saint-Georges was not of noble 'race'.2

  Around this same time, he was also appointed esquire to the Duchess of Orléans, the wife of the brother of King Louis XVI. While serving in this position, he gained a powerful friend and protector in the Duke of Orléans. After the death of the Duke, his friendly relations continued with his son, the Duke of Chartres.

  Although there is some controversy about Saint-Georges having been a Musketeer, it is certain that about the same time when he was allegedly in and out of the Musketeers, he was a Soldier of the Guard of the King. Saint-Georges was about sixteen years old at that time. His tenure in the Royal Guard lasted for about 5 years. During these years Louis XV and Mme de Pompadour ruled over the Court at Versailles. Later, under Louis XVI, Saint-Georges would play his role in the social life and intrigues of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

  Mme de Pompadour was born Jeanne Antoinette Poisson in Paris in 1721, the daughter of a middle class family. When she was four years old, in 1725, her father, Francois Poisson, was forced to leave France because of a black market scandal and to escape his creditors. In France at that time, and in most of Europe, if people owed money and could not pay, they could be put in debtors jail. By the time she was nine years old, her mother insisted on giving her the best possible education so that little Jeanne could marry a rich man. For example, she was given voice lessons and elocution by the best teachers. Jeanne acquired the kind of education that all rich people in Europe gave their children. The money for this education was provided for by her mother's lover, Charles Le Normant de Tournehem. Some historians list him as her step-father.

&nbs
p; When she reached the age of twenty-three, in 1741, an arrangement was made for her to marry a nobleman, Charles Guillaume le Normant d' Étioles. That same year, she gave birth to a daughter, Alexandrine. Shortly after, she began planning to get into the most exclusive circles of society. She entertained a great deal in her Château d' Étioles. Men like Voltaire and Montesquieu were her guests. She became so well known for her entertaining that even the King, Louis XV, heard of her and actually met her at a ball in 1745. He was very impressed with this young lady.

  After the death of his mistress, the Duchess of Chateauroux, the King chose Jeanne to be his next mistress. First, he installed her in a room in his palace; she was given lessons in court etiquette to prepare her for court life. Second, in 1745, she was legally separated from her husband. The King gave her the title of the Marquise de Pompadour on July 7, 1745