Notes on the Program

Born on a British slave ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean en route from Guinea to the Spanish West Indies, Charles Ignatius Sancho (c. 1729-1780) was a British abolitionist, writer and composer. Orphaned at the age of two, Sancho was taken to England and given to three unmarried sisters, with whom he lived for eighteen years before escaping. While at the house of the sisters, Sancho caught the attention of the Duke of Montagu, who taught him to read and encouraged him to educate himself, lending him books from his personal library. After leaving the sisters, Sancho worked, at different times, as a butler and valet for the Montagu household. It was there that he devoted himself to music, poetry, reading and writing. Sancho eventually became a shopkeeper and started his own businesses. He was a fervent supporter of the abolitionist movement, voted in the general elections, and was the first British African to have an obituary published in the newspaper. As a shopkeeper, Sancho socialized with artists, writers, musicians, clergy and actors. Dozens of his surviving compositions — mostly dances and songs — were published in London between c. 1767-1779. His writings were published in newspapers, and his letters were compiled posthumously and published as The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African, which became a bestseller.

Sancho’s musical style adheres to the early classical, or galant style. It is pleasing to the ear, with natural singing melodic lines and transparent harmonic accompaniment. Tonight’s performance of some of Sancho’s dance music follows the improvisatory traditions of his time: repetitions of musical sections are embellished and improvised by the performer(s). Dance tunes in particular are often repeated and varied each time for as long as the choreography lasts.

In stark contrast to the humble beginnings of Ignatius Sancho, George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1778-1860) was born in Galicia (present day Poland) to a West Indian father who worked for Prince Radziwiłł and Prince Esterházy, and an Austro-German mother. A child prodigy on the violin, young George made his public debut in Frankfurt at the age of seven, followed by the Concert Spirituel in Paris at the age of ten. His concert appearances at the court in Windsor, as well as performances in Bath, Bristol, and London’s Drury Lane Theatre caught the attention of the Prince of Wales (later King George IV), who became his patron and took over his musical education. With the Prince’s support, Bridgetower studied with François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, Giovanni Giornovichi, and Thomas Attwood. He continued to perform at many prestigious London concerts and venues, and was first violinist in the Prince’s private orchestra.

In the spring of 1803, George Bridgetower met Ludwig van Beethoven in Vienna. Beethoven was so impressed with Bridgetower’s talent that he presented Bridgetower with his tuning fork and dedicated a sonata for piano and violin that he had been working on to Bridgetower. The humorous inscription on the manuscript read “Sonata mulattica composta per il mulatto Brischdauer, gran pazzo e compositore mulattico” (“Mixed-race sonata composed for the mixed-race Bridgetower, madman and mixed-race composer”). The pair premiered the piece in a public concert in the Augarten (a public Baroque park) at 8:00AM on May 24, 1803. Bridgetower read the second movement from Beethoven’s manuscript, over the latter’s shoulder, as there was not enough time to have the violin part copied before the performance. However, their friendship reportedly dissolved soon afterwards, and before the sonata was published, Beethoven scratched out Bridgetower’s name and dedicated it to Rodolphe Kreutzer instead. Kreutzer thoroughly disliked the sonata and never performed it. That sonata is the Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47, now commonly known as the “Kreutzer sonata.”

After this, Bridgetower returned to England, where he continued teaching and performing and was elected to the Royal Society of Musicians in 1807. He also earned the degree of Bachelor of Music from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1811. His vocal composition for voice and piano, Henry: a ballad (1812), was written soon after he received his degree and dedicated to the Princess of Wales. Bridgetower also wrote a pedagogical work for piano, Diatonica armonica for pianoforte (1812), an anthem for orchestra and chorus, a violin concerto, and other pieces.

Clocking in at approximately 40 minutes long, the Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 is known for its fiendish technical challenges for both the violinist and pianist, its extensive length, and its emotional complexity. The first movement opens with a slow violin solo, sans piano. At first, it seems as though the music would be sweet and meditative with luminous A major sonorities, but that illusion is quickly shattered when the piano enters after the first four measures. The harmonies immediately turn darker, and the rest of the movement is stormy and agitated. The second movement is a theme and variations in peaceful F major, where the violin and piano trade off melodies and themes in musical conversations. The third movement was originally meant to be the final movement of the Sonata No. 6, Op. 30 no. 1. It is a boisterous tarantella in 6/8 time, propelling the work to an exuberant and virtuosic end.

~Anastasia Chin