Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was a fine marksman, a fencer, and one of the great French violinists of the 1700s. He was also the first known classical composer of African descent. The Minnesota Orchestra plays Joseph Boulogne's Symphony No. 1 on this episode of Performance Today.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Aaron Copland: Music for Movies: Barley Wagons, Grovers Corners
St. Louis Symphony | Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Album: Copland: Music for Films
RCA 61699

Domenico Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas, K 518 & K 519
Miguel Ituarte, harpsichord
Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, Spain

Edward Elgar: Introduction & Allegro for Strings, Op. 47
Texas Festival String Orchestra | Dongmin Kim, conductor
Round Top Music Festival, Festival Concert Hall, Round Top, TX

Aaron Copland: Sonata for Violin and Piano
Stefan Jackiw, violin | Conrad Tao, piano
Skaneateles Festival, First Presbyterian Church, Skaneateles, NY

Hour 2

Jean Philippe Rameau: Elegy (Deux gigues)
Dmitry Paperno, piano
Album: Through the Years
Cedille 74

Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Symphony No. 1 in G Major, Op. 11, No. 1
Minnesota Orchestra | Osmo Vanska, conductor
Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Pièces de clavecin en concerts, No. 1 in C Minor
Emi Ferguson, flute | William Short, bassoon | Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord
Camerata Pacifica, Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, CA

Josef Suk: Piano Quartet in A Minor, Op. 1
Orli Shaham, piano | Gary Levinson, violin | Michael Klotz, viola | Amanda Forsyth, cello
Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX