George Bridgetower: The Most Badass Violinist You've Never Heard Of
by Ian Fortey
If you were making a Most Badass Occupations list, you'd probably put violinist somewhere below professional cat trainer, but just slightly above accountant. That's not to say it doesn't take skill to do those things; they just lack a certain … badassitude. Or at least it might seem that way if you're not familiar with the history of George Bridgetower, because that man's violinery was at a level that impressed Ludwig van goddamn Beethoven.
Bridgetower was actually a contemporary of Beethoven's, and had achieved a fair amount of fame during his lifetime performing for the elite across Europe, including England’s King George IV. Born to a Polish-German mother and West-Indian father, Bridgetower managed to distinguish himself early, as a musician virtually unparalleled in all the world. He was a straight-up prodigy, and was already a professional violinist by the age of ten.
Not much is known about the earlier years of Bridgetower’s life. What we do know is that he was raised in the home of Hungarian Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, his father’s employer. John Frederick’s own history was somewhat confusing, partly because he often told people, including young George, that he’d once been an African prince, which we assume means that he spent some time writing to people in America about the incredible financial opportunities he had for them.
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We like to think carrier pigeons were involved in some of the earliest 419 scams.
Bridgetower's talent was so impressive that it had the arts community questioning racism. When he first played for an audience in Paris—remember, he was just ten years old at the time—a newspaper wrote of the performance: “his talent is one of the best replies one can give to philosophers who wish to deprive people of his nation and his colour of the opportunity to distinguish themselves in the arts.”
By age eleven, Bridgetower was under the protection of the Prince of Wales. Tutors were appointed for the boy and he became the first violinist in the prince's private orchestra in fourteen years. He was elected to the Royal Society of Musicians and even got a degree in music from Cambridge University. In addition to being a skilled violinist, Bridgetower was also fluent in not just English, but Polish, German, French, and Italian. Not bad for the Black son of a servant in early 19th century Europe.
The next phase in Bridgetower’s life should have been galactic stardom. He had made his way to Vienna, and while he was there met and even befriended Beethoven. More specifically, Beethoven totally bro’d out and fell in love with Bridgetower, and the two became quite good friends.
Beethoven took such a shine to Bridgetower that he rewrote a sonata for the two of them to perform together. The story goes that during the performance, there was a portion of the sonata that Beethoven was playing by himself which spanned several octaves, and was intended to be repeated immediately thereafter. Bridgetower, having only received the adapted piece the day before on a handwritten note, performed the exact same part on the violin though it hadn't been written for him. At that point it’s said that Beethoven got up from his piano in the middle of the performance and embraced Bridgetower, before returning to his seat and finishing the piece for their audience.
Beethoven referred to Bridgetower as “the Mulatto,” which is considered racist today but was apparently culturally acceptable at the time, and named the piece “The Mulatto Sonata.” More specifically it was called “Sonata mulattica composta per il Mulatto Brischdauer, gran pazzo e compositore mulattico,” or basically, “the sonata for the lunatic composer Bridgetower,” but with some racism thrown in. It was meant to be endearing, at least as far as Beethoven was concerned, but obviously the man was a better musician than he was a wordsmith.
To this day, “Violin Sonata No. 9” is considered such a complicated piece of music that many violinists do not attempt it, or they do, fail, and eventually just give up. Word is that if you can play this particular piece of music, you can play anything.
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Even “the world’s smallest violin” when your friend starts whining about something petty.
Today the song is better known as the Kreutzer Sonata, weirdly named for the French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer. It's weird because Kreutzer didn't care for the piece and never played it himself, possibly because he didn't think he could. The primary reason for the hasty and poorly-thought-out re-dedication appears to have been due to Bridgetower making a rude remark about a woman Beethoven was friends with. History did not record the details of the offending comment, but it was enough to instantly dissolve the friendship between the two and resulted in the most nefarious act of musical regifting the world has ever known. The two never spoke or even saw each other again.
As for Bridgetower, he eventually succumbed to arthritis, living out his days in a home for the destitute, completely unable to play the instrument that he had once so easily mastered. Many historians seem to be of the same opinion that, were it not for his insulting quip, today Bridgetower would be a household name alongside the likes of Beethoven and Mozart. And while that is an extremely sad ending to a brilliant musician's life, the legacy of his violin prowess lives on in the form of a piece of music so masterfully complicated many musicians never bother to attempt it.
