Violin Concerto in A, Op. 5, No. 2

Composer: BOLOGNE, Joseph, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
  • Bologne’s Op. 5 is a set of two violin concertos, published in Paris circa 1775. This set constituted his sixth and seventh violin concertos. 
  • Bologne had made his debut in Paris as a violinist only three years before, in 1772. On that occasion, he played his first two violin concertos, his Op. 2. 
  • Bologne’s father had died in 1774, which stopped the annuity he’d been receiving from his father. (Because Bologne was the illegitimate son of a formerly enslaved woman, he had no inheritance from his wealthy white father.) After his father’s death, Bologne earned his living through music, including the publication of this violin concerto and eleven others. 
  • All of Bologne’s violin concertos contain three movements. He also symphonies concertantes for violin and orchestra, which contained only two movements.1

Sources

  1. Gabriel Banat, “Saint-Georges [Saint-George], Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed June 30, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000024316

Cut IDs

21325