George Augustus Bridgetower (1779-1860) was a skilled and well-connected African-European violinist in early nineteenth-century Europe. Befriended by many esteemed pioneers of the music world, Bridgetower was the original dedicatee of the Sonata for Piano and Violin Op.47 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). As the first interpreter of the piece and a close friend of Beethoven's, Bridgetower may have assisted with the composition of the work and certainly improvised within the performance. Beethoven notes in his diary that Bridgetower changed and improved some parts of the sonata. Audiences and critics of the day admired this prodigy. The fact that he was considered a "noble moor," a royal possession, was further proof of his eminence.
In investigating the role of Bridgetower's ethnicity, this document reviews Bridgetower's friendship with Beethoven through a contextual reassessment of his career. Placing his musical engagements and known professional activities within socio-cultural and artistic spectrums establishes his role in the contemporary evolution of classical music. This exploration of his life as a performer, composer, and his relationships with contemporary artists, as seen through their correspondence and other primary source materials, examines his relationship with the culture of his time. While being a bi-racial man may have marked him as Other, it was also his talent as both performer and composer that rendered him capable of befriending and collaborating with Beethoven.
One reason for Bridgetower's success was his patronage from the Prince of Wales. It became clear that Bridgetower was symbolic of a broader issue. Bridgetower's place in this environment can change how we view the development of excellent art music from a socio-cultural standpoint. Dr. Michael Phillips (1941), a historian and former museum curator, contributed to a series of essays for the British Library's website. Each article profiles five nineteenth-century figures of European and African heritage. Dr. Phillips states, “Bridgetower flourished in a time when the world outside Africa was like a huge concentration camp for black people."
Racial fetishism has been prevalent throughout the arts. Perhaps the most exceptional European example is Angelo Soliman. Soliman arrived in Austria as a slave from western Africa. For the entirety of his life, Soliman was considered prominent in Vienna as well as an exotic showpiece. Bridgetower, on the other hand, was a well-known prodigy, playing concerts all over Europe by the age of nine, much by the design of his father, John Frederich Bridgetower. It was Bridgetower's father who was determined to see that little George became the most sought-after musician in London – a much different life experience than what Soliman had. Beethoven’s relationship with Bridgetower is intriguing on many levels. Beethoven was well known for his shortcomings, but he was socially conscious, which was evident by the dedication of his compositions and the company he kept. Within Bridgetower's performance, it is his improvisations during the performance of the great Beethoven sonata that are of great interest. Every source that discusses Bridgetower's contributions mentions the “flourish” that he improvised on the violin during the premiere of Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin Op. 47 with Beethoven at the piano. It was this “flourish” that inspired Beethoven to leap from his chair and exclaim, “Once more, my dear fellow!” Violinist Thirlwall preserved the “flourish” for inclusion in Frederick G. Edwards' 1908 article on Bridgetower in The Musical Times. Bridgetower made it clear in that interview that he “imitated the flight at the eighteenth bar of the pianoforte part.” To imitate a piano gesture on the violin in live performance while sight-reading takes a great deal of skill.
J. W. Thirwall’s preserved Bridgetower arpeggio “flourish” provides for a more in-depth investigation of Bridgetower’s capabilities on the violin. Analyzing Bridgetower's improvisation brings understanding to the types of music Bridgetower played, what he practiced, and perhaps to what extent he challenged the violin part in his compositions. Bridgetower's ability to actualize the arpeggio suggests that he had extensive training and exposure to the teachings of the French Violin School.
As suggested by musicologist, Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, it is crucial to revisit the actual events of the past and perform those discoveries. Dr. de Lerma suggests that violinists should apply George Bridgetower's improvisation into the performance. They may well be the only documented traits that are specific to Bridgetower. As well they demonstrate Bridgetower's skill level and allows to preserve the "urtext" performance. In this lecture-recital I will feature Beethoven's Sonata No.9 Op 47 (performing Bridgetower's flourishes), a commissioned response to the first movement of the sonata from my ForgewithGeorge commissioning project collection entitled, The Bridgetower for speaking, singing, solo violinist by David Wallace. I will share other findings and commissions that shed light on George Bridgetower's compelling story. "The Bridgetower" is a natural extension of my passion for preserving and perpetuating the legacies of great black classical violinists. Using the full text of the opening poem of Dove’s poetic novel, Sonata Mulattica, our performer narrates, musically embodies, and contextually deconstructs the poem’s rhetorical introduction of the book’s protagonist: the great Afro-European virtuoso violinist, George Polgreen Bridgetower.
Identifying with his adopted English culture, he bases this work on two national themes. Bridgetower also became acquainted and performed with Joseph Haydn on at least two occasions, as his father John Frederich was a servant at Esterházy Palace. Haydn having utilized the German National Anthem in his String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76 No. 3, Emperor, might have influenced young Bridgetower's decision to compose a theme and variations.
This recital answers questions that can now be answered about the legacy of George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower – and opens questions about the depth of community within the Western Canon.
