only five other copies are known. Two copies in France, one in Holland, one in Belgium and one in the United States; the latter incomplete, as is the present copy.
Joseph de Boulogne, le Chevalier de St. George (1745-1799), musician and fencing champion, was born to a wealthy French merchant and a West Indian slave of African descent on the island of Guadaloupe. He was accepted by his father's wife and had the run of the plantation. When he was eight, his father killed a man in a duel and was forced to flee the island. Young Joseph's mistress took him to Paris, and then to Bordeaux where they were re-joined by his father and his real mother. He was entered in one of the best schools there and by 15, Joseph was a master fencer and made an officer in the King's guard. He was extraordinarily gifted, and excelled at virtually everything he applied himself to, including music, mastering both the harpsichord and the violin, and began composing almost at once. Saint-George became Conductor of Le Concert de amateurs in 1773, combining his duties with composing. He produced 7 violin concertos and 2 symphony concertantes in the next two years. In 1775, only two years after Saint-George became Conductor, L'Almanach Musical [The Musical Almanac] wrote that the ensemble was "the best orchestra for symphonies in Paris and perhaps in Europe." His work has been compared to that of Mozart, whom he knew and with whom he communicated. In 1791, St. George was made colonel of a cavalry unit composed entirely of "gens de coleurs" (men of color) with Alexandre Dumas as his lieutenant. He continued composing and playing almost to his last days. He died alone in a small flat in Paris in 1799.