Alain Guédé et les Amis de Saint-Georges ! On ne prête qu’aux Riches !

Dear Sir,

I am Alain Guédé, the author of Monsieur de Saint-George: A Biography, which has been published in France and the United States, and the president of the association ‘Le Concert de Monsieur de Saint-George’, which aims, through its work, to obtain greater recognition for this composer.

Calliope has passed on your letter to me.Saint-George was completely unknown before I decided to do something about that. Only a few rich plantation owners in the West Indies, or their auxiliaries, continued to have his music performed. But their intentions were not truly noble, their objective being to show, through the existence of a man like Saint-George, that slavery was not entirely a bad thing. We must be wary of such so-called ‘friends’ of Saint-George. If you remember, there was not a single website devoted to him in 1999.

My book and the work of my association to communicate, distribute scores, raise awareness among artists and concert organisers, have helped to rescue this composer from oblivion. Since the book was published in 1999, there has been, on average in France, two new CDs per year and two concerts performed each week. His works are played in Russia, where I gave a lecture tour, in the USA, where we have many friends and agents (including Ms Bisa Williams), in Canada, where we now have a delegation, and in China, Japan, and so on. This month we have invited Spanish, Russian and Slovakian orchestras to play works by Saint-George in Paris.

The above is just a brief summary of my experience, which, I believe, qualifies me to answer your letter.Firstly: the kind of respect we owe to Saint-George is above all that of playing his music well. The first imperative set by the association ‘Le Concert de Monsieur de Saint-George’ and myself was that his works should be performed by the best musicians available.

The Orchestre des Archets de Paris, which recorded the CD we are talking about, is one of the finest ensembles in the world today. Notably, it has toured the USA. Their recording is marvellous, and Saint-George would have been proud of it.Secondly: in France (and several other European countries) our efforts to revive Saint-George have had a wonderful ‘collateral’ effect. People who never usually set foot in concert halls for classical concerts have been encouraged by performances of Saint-George’s works to go to such concerts without inhibition.

Over the years we have been able to present Saint-George to thousands (possibly millions) of French people of African or West Indian origin. On 10 May this year, we organised a concert at the French Parliament, to which we invited several hundred children and young people from the poorer Paris suburbs.

We could have chosen a picture by Fragonard (as we did for the last Saint-George CD by Les Archets de Paris) or by Desportes (like the cover of my book in France and of the CD recorded by the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana). But this time, seeking something with wider appeal, we decided to ask Cabu to illustrate the cover. He is the most famous cartoonist in France (the recent exhibition of his works at the City Hall in
Paris attracted more than a million visitors). It was an honour to us that he accepted. The artist Wozniak is well known, amongst other things, for his paintings of famous American jazzmen. Our idea was to use the cover as a means of bringing Saint-George – and through him, classical music in general – to an even wider public, of people from all different backgrounds.

We want to give classical music in France a younger image. And I feel that the same thing can be done in the States.

Thirdly: I thank you for mentioning the elegance of Saint-George, which is something I have brought out in my biography. Your observation, however, poses the problem of aesthetics. Given that the cover is the work of two great artists, how does one judge its aesthetic qualities? Was Marilyn Monroe pleased with her portrait by Andy Warhol? Can one consider the works of Basquiat as ‘beautiful’? Did Picasso do justice to the beauty of Dora Maar?Wozniak’s colouring, I notice, evokes the ‘Beatles period’. And that is not just a coincidence. The drawing pays a faithful tribute to the life of Saint-George, in showing him surrounded by pretty girls.How would Saint-George dress if he was alive today? In smart Smalto style? Or with a mixture of elegance and originality, in clothing by John Galliano or Jean-Paul Gaultier? Would he be dressed like George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac, or like Prince?

Taking into account his very modern, even provocative personality, Cabu and Wozniak chose a very new and original approach. And the success of this CD in France shows that their opinion is widely shared by people from every walk of life.This interpretation may come as a surprise, and I understand that. But that was one of our intentions.

Finally I would like to say, in the friendliest possible way and with all due respect, that I think it would be a good idea if, rather than joining in with those who would like to use Saint-George for their own dishonourable ends, you could take part in the vast task of reviving his work, by supporting this CD.I invite you to take a look at the work we at the association ‘Le Concert de Monsieur de Saint George’ have carried out. You will find us at: www.chevalier-saint-george.fr  

My best regards to you, 

Alain Guédé