Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor It took the combined talent of composers Kris Bowers and Michael Abels to help filmmaker Stephen Williams ensure Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ music lives on after his life story was erased from the history books.
Williams’ new film, “Chevalier” tells the story of the illegitimate son of a plantation owner and slave. Played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chevalier is a promising young Black musician who excels at fencing, playing the violin and wooing the court of Marie Antoinette.
In dividing their tasks, Abels wrote the music for the on-camera performances while Bowers composed the film’s score. Speaking with Variety, Abels says, “Each [on-camera] performance piece needed to feel authentic to the scene that you see it in.” Whether it was weaving in a Mozart element, hints of Bologne’s compositions, or pieces from the opera “Ernestine,” which Chevalier is working on.
He adds, “At the same time, we are portraying Joseph as a modern person whose story speaks to us today.” For the film’s opening scene introducing the talents of Bologne to the French upper class via a violin showdown with Mozart, Abels had to begin with the legendary composer’s “Violin Concerto No.
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