Beautiful Stranger, Come to The World; Who Built the Sound? by Octavia McBride-Ahebee

Before the salons and symphonies, there were her hands, his mother, grooming, guiding, grounding Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges in a love no title could outrank.

In Beautiful Stranger, Come to the World, women do and will play prominently in shaping what we now call classical music. The documented record rarely centers them. The contributions of enslaved Africans to the formation and evolution of classical music are also seldom acknowledged. So I am imagining them here: women and enslaved Africans from across the world meeting, collaborating, and making music while moving through dark and complicated histories.

*Remember, this is an ongoing series where history slowly unfolds through many voices, so you can truly hear the world. If you would like to revisit the earlier installments before listening to Part III, all are accessible in the link below.

Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. playing Chevalier in the 2022 movie.

And you must see the 2022 film Chevalier, which portrays the brilliance of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges who was often called the “Black Mozart,” and he was a contemporary of Mozart. Though raised and groomed within a privileged, white, French world, he was never severed from his Black mother or the Black community that shaped him. What moved me most in the film were the tender depictions of those bonds.

Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.  Frederick  Douglass with his grandson. 

I salute, too, Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), who was an amateur violinist and owned a copy of a Stradivarius. His grandson, Joseph Henry Douglass (1871–1935), became one of the first Black musicians to tour internationally as a concert violinist and later led Howard University’s School of Music.

And many of us learned, in school, about Solomon Northup (1808–1864), whose memoir Twelve Years a Slave documents his kidnapping into slavery. He was also a professional violinist.

While we honor these men, the women and the enslaved Africans who preceded them stand at the center of this musical genre. I am using this series, along with imagination and history, to raise the dead and restore their contributions.

Give a listen: If you feel moved to support this work as it unfolds, contributions are always appreciated.

 

Click link to listen:  

 

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