Monsieur de Saint-George: virtuoso, swordsman, revolutionary, a legendary life rediscovered

Description

Nanon -- The child and the slaves -- Race and the Enlightenment -- An American in Paris -- The foil and the bow -- "Quarreling buffoons" -- The "famous" Saint-George -- The salon man -- The Voltaire of music -- Toward a more perfect society -- Prima della rivoluzione -- The chevalier and the chevaliere -- The Palais in Revolution -- The Republic's Black Hussar -- Singing to victory -- Coda -- Blackout.;"Virtually forgotten until now, his life is the stuff of legend. Born in 1739 in Guadeloupe to a slave mother and a French noble father, he became the finest swordsman of his age, an insider at the doomed court of Louis XVI, and, most of all, a virtuosic musician. A violinist, he directed the Olympic Society of Concerts, which was considered the finest in Europe in an age of great musicians, including Haydn, from whom he commissioned a symphony, and Mozart, to whom he was often compared. He also became the first Freemason of color, embracing the French Revolution with the belief that it would end the racism against which--despite his illustrious achievements--he struggled his whole life"--Publisher's description. Nanon -- The child and the slaves -- Race and the Enlightenment -- An American in Paris -- The foil and the bow -- "Quarreling buffoons" -- The "famous" Saint-George -- The salon man -- The Voltaire of music -- Toward a more perfect society -- Prima della rivoluzione -- The chevalier and the chevaliere -- The Palais in Revolution -- The Republic's Black Hussar -- Singing to victory -- Coda -- Blackout.