Bill Barclay’s The Chevalier

In 2018, while director of music at Shakespeare's Globe, I was approached by Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE and Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE about the need for a project celebrating Joseph Bologne. I asked, ‘who's that?’

They were very patient with me.

Few people know today about this extraordinary man, and five years ago it was fewer still. Nonetheless, I was caught flat-footed and frankly embarrassed. How could I call myself a musician while being ignorant of this titanic figure? My jaw dropped as they described his biography to me. First major composer and conductor of African descent, virtuoso violinist, the best fencer in France, outspoken abolitionist, and general of the first Black regiment in European history... Perhaps his music isn't so good, I thought. How very wrong I was.

That conversation spawned an inquiry into who this man was and how he could possibly have been neglected. His story is more heroic than fiction and larger than life. I set about trying to rectify this alarming omission, thinking I could provide musicological support to a new play. The Globe passed on the project, and so did two playwrights of colour I approached.

I found myself stumped anew. This man was Marie Antoinette's music teacher. Unbelievably, he was flatmates with Mozart at a time when he was ill and grieving his lost mother. Bologne was reaching the height of fame in Paris (then the centre of the musical world), while a secret police force was registering people of colour to send them back to slavery on the Caribbean islands. The story, so vital for us to understand, seemed to leap off the page. But Bologne's obscurity was still working against him.

I was then creating Concert Theatre Works, the non-profit touring company that tells music's stories through productions with actors and orchestra. I began to call my symphonic partners: ‘why have you never played the music of Joseph Bolonge?’ The Boston Symphony Orchestra, to their credit, acknowledged their error. Could I have a concert with scenes ready in six months? I quickly realised that I would have to do this myself.

The sold-out concert presented at the Tanglewood Music Festival in 2019 was a galvanising moment. I didn't know at the time what I had made, but the audience did. National Public Radio covered it across the USA. We only had funds for three actors, so beside Bologne, Mozart, and Marie Antoinette, I played Choderlos de Laclos, Bologne's librettest and the author of Dangerous Liaisons.Left to right: Merritt Janson as Marie Antoinette, Bill Barclay as Choderlos de Laclos and RJ Foster as The Chevalier ©Elliot Mandel

While there was immediate interest in our work, it was clear this project would require a larger effort. How many deserving artists of colour are still languishing on the margins of concert culture? How pervasive and invisible is the problem? I reached out to the incredible Sphinx organisation for advice. Their National Alliance for Audition Support funds auditions for musicians of colour to help diversify the sector. Orchestras pay a small annual fee to be a member of this alliance, which funds the grants and so much more. I decided that not only The Chevalier, but all of my concert-theatre works would require orchestras to join the alliance.

In the midst of this work, George Floyd was murdered on camera for the world to see, and our relationship to race utterly changed. Suddenly the world wanted to learn more about this Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Fortunately, we had the piece ready, and a campaign to support it.

Today, The Chevalier has been performed at over a dozen venues in the US and enjoys its UK premiere with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Friends this month at Snape Maltings in Suffolk and St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. We have registered several new orchestras into the alliance, but perhaps more importantly, we have attempted to shed light on the incredible work the Sphinx organisation does. I worked to create a similar alliance within the Chineke! Foundation in the UK. This work is nowhere near complete.

Unlike other films or books that sensationalise his story, my piece attempts to ground Bologne in what we know. Stylistically, the language is modern, the costumes period, and the music selected to showcase a wide survey of his musical personality. This has been an enormous challenge but an even greater joy. Two artists play Bologne: a violinist and actor, dressed in identical costumes. In London we have violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason and actor Chukwudi Iwuji, newly in the Marvel cinematic universe. In New York City next year we will perform with The Harlem Chamber Players. Much more is in the works, but then again, so much more is required.

People unknown to theatrical work may see a play as the work of a single playwright, but this is almost never the case. Plays are created with actors, changed with their ideas, influenced by dramaturgs, and shaped by producers who believe in the power of art to change the world. For this project that has meant a dynamic cohort of people of colour. The Chevalier would not be possible without all of them.

Stories are vital for the healthy future of a musical ecosystem we so badly need to survive. Many more neglected women, people of colour, and differently abled protagonists await their turn. It is my hope The Chevalier inspires people to take up the mantle and bring these figures into the light. As a character in my play says, ‘Not to defend this world, but to create a better one.’

The London Philharmonic Orchestra and friends present the UK premiere performances of The Chevalier, written and directed by Bill Barclay, at Snape Maltings on 19 March and St Martin in the Fields on 21 March. You can find more information here.