Name: 音樂天才約瑟夫・布洛涅不平凡的一生 (The extraordinary life of musical genius Joseph Boulogne | BBC Ideas)
Uploaded: 2022-10-28T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 4 min 32 s

Joseph Boulogne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is perhaps the most famous musician and composer you've never heard of.

約瑟夫布洛涅，又稱聖喬治騎士，也許你從未聽說過，但卻是最著名的音樂家和作曲家。

A soldier, athlete, musical genius and revolutionary, he was the crème de la crème of 18th Century French society.

他是士兵、運動員、音樂天才和革命家，是18世紀法國社會的精英。

Boulogne was born in 1745 on the Carribean island of Guadeloupe, then part of a large French empire in the Americas.

布洛涅於1745年生於加勒比海的瓜德羅普島上，當時是法蘭西帝國在美洲的一部分。

His mother was an enslaved Senegalese woman called Nanon. His father was George Boulogne, a white plantation owner.

他的母親是一個塞內加爾奴隸，名叫納農。他的父親是喬治布洛涅，一個白人林場主。

Unusually for an illegitimate, mixed-heritage child , Boulogne was given his aristocratic father's name.

布洛涅繼承了他貴族父親的名字，這對於一個私生子、混血兒來說並不常見。

George Boulogne was keen for his son to receive a good education and he was sent to France to be tutored in literature and fencing.

喬治布洛涅非常希望他的兒子能接受良好的教育，因此便把布洛涅送到法國去接受文學和擊劍方面的指導。

As well as showing great skill in sport, Boulogne was intelligent and charismatic, which along with his father's social connections meant he was granted access to elite circles of French society.

此外，布洛涅也在體育方面有著高超的技巧，他很聰明，也很有魅力，再加上他父親的人脈，便意味著他有了進入法國精英圈的入場卷。

It didn't hurt that he was quite the looker, too.

As if being handsome, clever and a champion athlete wasn't enough, Boulogne was a seriously skilled musician and composer.

如果說長得帥、夠聰明和是一名冠軍健將還不夠的話，布洛涅更是個有才的的音樂家和作曲家。

His main instrument was the violin, and by 1761 he was made a member of the elite Gendarmes de la Garde, the royal guards, as a soldier and musician.

他主要的樂器是小提琴，而在1761年他被任命為精英憲兵隊的成員，也就是皇家衛隊，所以他還是一位士兵兼音樂家。

It is around this time that he became known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, in recognition of his skill as a fencer and horseman.

也是在這時，他被熟知為聖喬治騎士，那是認可一名擊劍手和騎手技能的稱號。

He was then invited to join the incredibly prestigious Concert des Amateurs as first violinist, and he became its leader by 1773.

隨後，他以第一小提琴手的身份被邀請加入赫赫有名的 Concert des Amateurs，更在1773年成為團長。

As a composer, he specialised in a new style, called Symphonie Concertante, where two soloists within a wider orchestra would compete.

身為一名作曲家，他擅長一種稱為 「交響樂協奏曲」的新風格，也就是一個弦樂團中兩名獨奏者會和對方競爭。

Kind of like a rap battle, but with fancier instruments.

有點像加入華麗樂器的說唱戰。

By the mid-1770s, Boulogne was becoming popular in Paris with one publication calling him 'the best composer and musician of the kingdom.'

到1770年代中期，一個刊物中稱布洛涅是整個王國中最好的作曲家和音樂家，讓他在巴黎開始有名起來。

Although things were going very well for Boulogne, he still experienced overt racism.

雖然布洛涅的人生看起來沒什麼不如意，但他也被明目張膽地種族歧視過。

Some of the opera's leading women petitioned Queen Marie Antoinette against having what they called a "mulatto" in charge of the opera.

歌劇內的一些女主角向瑪麗安託瓦內特女王請願，反對由所謂的「黑白混血兒」來負責歌劇工作。

Despite this attempt to sabotage his career, he fell into favor with the influential playwrite, Madame de Montesson, who put him in charge of her private theatre and introduced him to her fancy husband, the Duke of Orleans.

儘管有人企圖破壞他的職業生涯，但他還是獲得了有影響力的劇作家，蒙特松夫人的青睞，她讓布洛涅負責她的私人劇院，並把他介紹給她的花心丈夫，奧爾良公爵。

Boulogne became good friends with the Duke and was devastated when he died in 1785.

布洛涅與公爵自此成為好朋友，而他也在1785年聽聞公爵去世時受到了很大的打擊。

Soon after, he visited London where he met other aristocrats, like the Chevalier D'Eon, who was probably transgender and prominent abolitionists, such as William Wilberforce.

不久後，他便到訪倫敦，在那裡他遇到了其他貴族，如可能是變性人的Chevalier D'Eon，和著名的廢奴主義者威廉威爾伯福斯。

We can't know for sure but it's likely this trip shaped Boulogne's thinking around both race and gender.

我們不能確定是不是因為這次旅行讓布洛涅想清了自己在種族和性別上的認同。

Meanwhile, the French Revolution had broken out and heads were about to start rolling.

與此同時，法國大革命爆發，殺戮也伴隨而來。

Despite his connections to the aristocracy, he sided with the revolutionaries.

儘管他和貴族圈有交情，他還是與革命者們站在同一陣線。

He became captain in the Lille National Guard then colonel of his own regiment of soldiers, which included many people of colour.

他成為里爾國民警衛隊的隊長，後來變成自己軍隊的上校，這是個包括許多有色人種的軍隊。

As the revolution became more radical, he was rewarded...by being thrown in jail.

隨著革命變得更加激烈，他也得到了些戰利品，就是被扔進大牢。

In an atmosphere thick with suspicion and violence between the infighting revolutionaries, Boulogne was imprisoned for 18 months.

起了內鬨的革命者們對彼此充滿了猜疑和暴力，而布洛涅則被囚禁了18個月。

Sadly, Boulogne died in 1799, after an ulcer in his leg turned gangrenous, aged around 53.

遺憾的是，在腿上的潰瘍壞死後，1799年布洛涅於53歲左右時去世。

Shortly after Boulogne's death, Napoleon seized power in France and reinstated slavery in the French colonies.

布洛涅死後不久，拿破崙在法國奪取了政權，並在法國殖民地恢復奴隸制。

The people of Guadaloupe resisted, around 6,000 of them were killed.

但瓜地洛普的人民頑強抵抗，最後有約6000人喪命。

Napoleon also banned Boulogne's music in an attempt to erase him from French history.

拿破崙還查禁布洛涅的音樂，試圖將他從法國歷史中抹去。

Afro-Carribean communities within France, and on Guadaloupe and Martinique have been working tirelessly to keep his legacy alive,

在法國境內的非裔加勒比社區，以及在瓜地洛普和馬丁尼克的人們一直以來努力延續和保存他的創作，

and Joseph Boulogne, or the Chevalier de Saint-Georges is now enjoying a long overdue and richly deserved revival.

約瑟夫布洛涅，也就是聖喬治騎士，現在正享受他作品遲來的、當之無愧的復興。