Has the Chevalier de Saint-Georges Really Been Erased?

This article considers three questions. First, has the Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–99) been erased, in the strict sense? Has he been excluded from history? Second, what is the published evidence that Napoleon banned the music of Saint-Georges? Is there any published evidence at all? And third, has the Chevalier been erased, in the broad sense? Is he under-represented in the history of Western art music? To answer these questions, this article surveys the relevant literature, discusses the (absence of) evidence that the music of Saint-Georges was prohibited, and then analyzes the results of a search through 250 books about music history from the period 1851–2000. Ultimately, this article concludes that the Chevalier de Saint-Georges has not been erased: He was never excluded from history; no evidence has been published to show that his music was ever banned; and he is not under-represented, compared to other, similar composers of the period.