George Bridgetower

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George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (February 29, 1780–February 20, 1860) was a black Polish-born virtuoso violinist, who lived in England for much of his life.

Bridgetower was born in Biała in Poland. His father, John Frederick Bridgetower, was probably a West Indian (possibly Barbadian) servant of the Hungarian Prince Esterházy (Joseph Haydn's patron), although he also claimed to be an African prince. His mother was an eastern European (possibly German or Polish) domestic servant. He exhibited considerable talent in his childhood, giving successful violin concerts in Paris, London, Bath and Bristol in 1789. In 1791, the British Prince Regent (later George IV) took an interest in him, and oversaw his continuing musical education. At the Prince's direction, he studied under François-Hippolyte Barthélémon (leader of the Royal Opera), with Croatian-Italian composer Giovanni Giornovichi (Ivan Jarnovic), and with Thomas Attwood (organist at St Paul's Cathedral and professor at the Royal Academy of Music). He performed in around 50 concerts in theatres London, such as Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the Haymarket, between 1789 and 1799, and was employed by the Prince to perform in his orchestra in Brighton and London.

He was given leave to visit his mother and brother (a cellist) in Dresden in 1802, giving concerts there. He visited Vienna later in 1803, where he performed with Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was impressed, and dedicated his great Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major (Op.47) to Bridgetower, with the goodheartedly mocking dedication Sonata per uno mulaticco lunattico. Barely finished, the piece received its first public performance at the Augarten Theatre on 24 May 1803, with Beethoven on pianoforte and Bridgetower on violin. Bridgetower had to read the violin part of the second movement from Beethoven's copy, over his shoulder. He made a slight amendment to his part, which Beethoven gratefully accepted, jumping up to say "Noch einmal, mein lieber Bursch!" ("Once more, my dear fellow!"). Beethoven also presented Bridgetower with his tuning fork, now held by the British Library. The pair fell out soon afterwards, Bridgetower having insulted a woman who turned out to be Beethoven's friend; Beethoven broke off all relations with Bridgetower and changed the dedication of the new violin sonata to the violin virtuoso Rudolphe Kreutzer, who never played it, saying that it had already been preformed once and was too difficult — the piece is now known as the Kreutzer Sonata.

Bridgetower returned to England, where he married and continued his musical career, teaching and performing. He was elected to the Royal Society of Musicians on 4 October 1807, and became a Bachelor of Music at Cambridge University in June 1811. He performed with the Royal Philharmonic Society orchestra. He later travelled to abroad, particularly to Italy, but died in Peckham in south London, leaving his estate of £1,000 to his deceased wife's sister. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Bridgetower's own compositions include Diatonica armonica for piano, published in London in 1812 and Henry: A ballad, for medium voice and piano, also published in London. A list of his compositions may be found in Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, Fall 1990, in an article by Dominique-Rene de Lerma.