BY MIRIAM HAUSER

In print | Published September 17, 2009

Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize winner and former United States Poet Laureate, is coming to Swarthmore, bringing with her the story, as told in her newest book of poetry, “Sonata Mulattica,” of a brilliant musician. He worked with Beethoven, performed for Thomas Jefferson, and this coming Tuesday, the Swarthmore community will be able to hear his story at the Lang Performing Arts Center as part of the Cooper Series, a series of lectures, performances and exhibitions funded by the William J. Cooper Foundation. The musician? None other than George Bridgetower.

If you’ve never heard of Bridgetower—regardless of whether or not you’re a musician or music-lover—you’re not alone. Bridgetower’s brief moment of fame made it into the musical history books, but did not enter him into the musical canon, though the violin prodigy worked with Beethoven and was sponsored by the Prince of Wales.

But Dove will not let Bridgetower be forgotten. Justin diFeliciantonio ’10, editor and founding member of the Swarthmore Literary Review, said, “This kind of weird little footnote in history that most people forget … [Dove is] uncovering this lost story in 18th and 19th century European musical history.”
“Sonata”’s musical theme connects with Dove’s own love of music. She has written text for composers including Tania Leon, Bruce Dolphe and John Williams, in addition to studying classical voice and playing the viola da gamba, a predecessor to the cello.

diFeliciantonio and the Literary Review began organizing the event in February, reaching out and involving the Swarthmore African-American Student Society (SASS), headed by president Paul Wiggins ’11, as well. Wiggins was deeply involved in the organization process. “He was excited to contribute to organizing the event, as Dove’s poetry is personally significant for him,” diFeliciantonio said. diFeliciantonio, a fan of Dove’s work, explains that they invited the poet because, “Rita Dove is just one of the preeminent poets of our generation. She’s won almost everything an American poet could win.”

“Mulattica” incorporates fact and fiction to tell Bridgetower’s story and create a sense of his character. Bridgetower, born to a Polish-German mother and an Afro-Caribbean father in the late 1700s, played for the likes of Thomas Jefferson at the age of nine. Years later, he met Ludwig van Beethoven, who was at the time working on “Sonata for Pianoforte and Violin in A (Op.47),” now most commonly known as the Kreutzer Sonata, for French violinist and composer Rudolphe Kreutzer. The two performed the piece together in its first performance, Beethoven then intending to dedicate it to Bridgetower, but the relationship was abruptly ended by a dispute over a woman. Ironically, Kreutzer, to whom the dedication was changed, refused to play the piece, referring to it as “outrageously unintelligible.”

Dove herself was both intrigued and saddened by Bridgetower’s story, and said, as quoted in the New York Times, “Here was the case of a man who made it into the history books, but barely. And who would have been, if not a household word, a household word in the musical world. That flame was snuffed out.”

diFeliciantonio referred to Dove as a “post post-modern writer.” He said, “She’s bringing together different kinds of artistic spaces … Family history, autobiographical reflections and merges that with distinct moments of American history and culture … She’s interested in putting all of these different elements in communication.”

Dove is currently a Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia. diFeliciantonio said, “Rita Dove is such a bibliophile, she’s always been a prodigious student.”

The Literary Review hopes that in addition to stimulating students and exposing them to Dove and her works, the reading will also increase exposure of the magazine and its goals. The Review aims to distinguish itself from other literary publications on campus, such as Small Craft Warnings, in that it publishes works from not only Swarthmore students, but from faculty, members of the community and from the world at large. However, it is also completely student-run. The publication aims to give new audiences to Swarthmore writings and show Swarthmore audiences different types of writings. The Review also hopes to foster an exchange between Swarthmore and the larger, worldwide writing community. diFeliciantonio hopes Dove’s reading will facilitate this exchange.

The reading is on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m in LPAC and begins with introductions by English Department Chair Peter Schmidt and by diFeliciantonio. It will be followed by a question and answer session and a reception in Scheuer. Attendees will have the opportunity to buy Dove’s books at the event. In the meantime, Dove is, her assistant Jennifer Wiley said in a recent email, “in deep seclusion and working against deadline” as editor for “The Penguin Anthology for 20th Century American Poetry.”

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