The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George [Hardcover]

Hugh Brewster (Author), Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: K and up

Joseph Bologne was one of the most famous men in 18th-century France. The son of a slave and a French nobleman in Guadaloupe, the ambitious Joseph moved to Paris, where he was christened the Chevalier de Saint George. During his extraordinary life, he conquered every limitation by becoming a champion swordsman, violin virtuoso, composer, and military commander in the French Revolution. From the plantations of the West Indies to the palace at Versailles, The Other Mozart details the true story of a remarkable man. Illustrated by original paintings and archival materials, the Chevalier de Saint George’s inspiring and affirming story lives on.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brewster (Anastasia's Album) immerses readers in 18th-century France in this picture-book biography of little-known musician Joseph Bologne Saint-George (1745–1799). Famous for more than just his music, the man's drive and talents spurred him to greatness in other areas, such as fencing and military leadership. Born to an enslaved West Indian mother and a French aristocrat, Bologne spent his early childhood in Guadalupe and at age eight moved to Paris where his father, Georges de Bologne-Saint-George, granted him and his mother freedom. His father gave Joseph the title "the Chevalier de Saint-George," and later, "People even called Joseph 'le Mozart noir'—the black Mozart," for his musical genius. Valesquez's (The Sound That Jazz Makes) elegant paintings, framed in regal hues, depict the chevalier (who was a favorite musician of Marie Antoinette) at his many pursuits. One portrait of a confident, strong Joseph in a fencing stance, backed by an ominous gray sky, appears to be symbolic of the book's recurring theme of his ambition set against a backdrop of prejudice. Art reproductions and photos show places, people and artifacts from this era, and sidebars convey the history of some of these (e.g., a timeline of Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution). These diversions can feel like interruptions to Joseph's story, but the end result is a fascinating story that plucks a remarkable man from obscurity. Ages 5-10. (Jan.)
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From School Library Journal

Grade 4–8—This swashbuckling biography of a multitalented musician in Revolutionary France will leave readers wondering why they'd never heard of the man. Born into slavery in Haiti, Saint-George distinguished himself in France as a composer, violinist, swordsman, colonel, prisoner, diplomat—and even an accomplished ice skater. Brewster relies heavily on the only English-language biography of Saint-George to reconstruct his unusual life, but also recognizes more recent scholarship in his author's note and includes a detailed list of recommended resources in a variety of formats. Period reproductions and drawings appear throughout, but at the heart of the book is Velasquez's original artwork. His moody paintings capture Saint-George raising his baton to cue the orchestra or drawing back his sword to parry a blow. The book features mini-biographies of other musicians and detailed time lines of the French Revolution and the life of Marie Antoinette, making it the perfect complement to units on the French and American Revolutions. The engaging narrative supplies delicious detail about life in Europe in the late 1700s, and the elegant design makes it the kind of picture book that even high school students will pick up.—Emily R. Brown, Providence Public Library, RI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (December 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810957205
• ISBN-13: 978-0810957206
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,651,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When they give it a 9-12 age range, they aren't kidding., January 21, 2010

By 

Ulyyf "Connie" (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George (Hardcover)

Given that it was a picture book, I decided to take a gamble and get it anyway, even though my nieces aren't in the age range. 6 and a half is ALMOST 9, after all, right...?

Wrong, definitely. This is NOT a read-aloud book, nor a good book for a kid who just recently learned to read. It has pages of long, advanced text, with insets providing more detail about, say, the French Revolution, or Slavery in French Colonies, or Marie Antoinette. And the illustrations are carefully captioned.

The end effect is a lot more like reading a history textbook, albeit a well-written one, than a story.

This book would be a real find for anybody looking for somebody new for Black History Month (or any other time of year when you expect children to write their book reports on biographies). Joseph Boulogne had a fairly interesting life on his own merits. This book doesn't suit my purposes as a read-aloud for my young nieces, but I'm keeping it until they're older and giving it four stars on the theory that, for the right age range, it's a really awesome book. If I change my mind when my nieces hit that age I'll come back and edit this review.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Move Over, Pushkin and Dumas!, July 21, 2008

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George (Hardcover)

Pushkin and Dumas weren't the only famous European artists partially of African descent. According to this book, France had a biracial musician dubbed "the Black Mozart."
When I think of a biracial man who has accomplished a lot in many areas, I free-associate and think, "Obama!" I think the same parents who want their Black or biracial sons to know about Obama and aim high would want their sons to know about this man. Young music learners may really make use of this book for Black History month reports, or things like that.
This book speaks of conflicting trends and thus, it is very real and significant. On the one hand, the Chevalier was the son of a rich man and he was treated as a man of high standing; the complete opposite of how he would have been treated in the United States in the 1700s. So in Europe there was a Black man who had access in ways that wouldn't have been possible stateside. However, he did face racial discrimination. Some performers didn't want him to be a lead director of an opera; another person refused to duel with him because he was biracial. So the book never tries to lie and say this high-born brother didn't face racism. Further, it speaks of him having contact with Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Black Haitian revolutionary.
The illustrations are lush here and show 1700s France in that frilly, ornate way that you see in many films. Some young readers may love the book for the illustrations alone. Often, the book spends many pages on other people: Mozart, Marie Antoinette, Haydn, for examples. On the one hand, it lessens the amount of pages on the Chevalier himself and begs the question of why so little info on him exists. On the other hand, it helps to contextualize the times in which he lived. This is important as many young readers will not know about the French Revolution.
In the illustrations, the Chevalier is not painted as especially light-skinned. I wonder if they painted him as if he had two Black parents so that readers from INTRAracial families would be persuaded to see the book. He is not painted the same complexion as Obama, Shemar Moore, Terrence Howard, etc.
I didn't know about this brother and I was pleased to learn about him in a quick, accessible fashion. I hope others can learn of this artist's existence and prominence.