Exploring Caribbean Connections---Haiti

 Curated Playlist: Exploring the Music of Werner A. Jaegerhuber

Central artist: Werner A. Jaegerhuber 


from the private collection of Claude Dauphin



Description:  In this post, I will explore the world of music in the French Caribbean. This curated playlist will focus on the musical works of Werner A. Jaegerhuber. Jaegerhuber was born in Haiti to a Haitian mother and a German father and gained musical fame in Europe. He taught music composition, vocalization as well as music. He is credited with collecting folk songs from rural parts of Haiti and sharing them with a wider audience.  Moreover, he is also credited with analyzing Vodou songs found in Le Vodou Haïtien:Rites radas canzo by Louis Maximilien.  Each piece in the playlist is inspired by, written by, or showcases the work of Werner A. Jaegerhuber.

Playlist

Eruzlie Malade ---Werner A Jaegerhuber


The first song in the playlist is Eruzlie Malade  composed by Werner A. Jagerhuber and performed by members of the Crossing Borders Music Group.  This piece shows who Jaegerhuber was as a person. Listening to the piece you can hear the European classical style representing his paternal. While the name Eruzlie Malade plays homage to his maternal side. Erzulie is a Vodou spirit who represents love and motherhood. Jagerhuber's Eruzlie Malade is seen as a prayer to this spirit. This piece showcases his desire to rearrange Haitian folk music and Vodou music into classical music fit for an international stage. 



Suite Folklorique IV.-----Werner Jagerhuber


This classical piece was composed by Werner Jagerhuber and performed by the Crossing Borders Music Group. This is the last part of his "Suite Folklorique".  In this piece, Jagerhuber applies a German classical style to a folk song called, "Papa Simbi Sent Me to Find Water". A song that is sung to a water spirit from Central West Africa in a plea to get water. Haiti's history of slavery and colonization also inspired Jagerhuber's work. Which probably lead to his inspiration to apply a classical style to this Central West African Song. 


Suite FolkloriqueIII---Werner Jagerhuber



Suite Folklorique III. Interludio composed by Werner Jagerhuber sounds like a piece that would be played in a church. Additionally, when listening to the piece carefully it is clear that the notes are being repeated as if to mimic a chant. Some persons believe that this piece was created by the influence of a Gregorian chant. Which is a church song, sung as a single vocal line and on a restricted scale, which is normally practiced in the Roman Catholic Church. This theory could be possible because Jagerhuber was influenced by all aspects of Haitian culture and there is a good amount of persons practicing Christianity in Haiti.


Suite Folklorique II. Dambala----Werner Jagerhuber


This piece is also composed by Jagerhuber and is inspired by Dambala, a Vodou spirit that represents the cycle of life. The piece starts off slow and then it gets really fast, it reaches a crescendo and then it starts to get slow again. Eventually, the music fades away. It can be assumed that at the beginning the slow part represents childhood, as the pace starts to pick up it represents turning into adulthood. The crescendo represents the prime of one's adulthood and the slowing part represents a person's elderly years. 


Plainte Nocturn--Werner. A Jaegerhuber


Plainte Nocturn is also a next chant-inspired composition by Werner A. Jaegerhuber.  Nocturn is a word that is connected to the Roman Catholic Church. This piece further shows that Jaegerhuber was inspired by the Christian church. It is suspected that this could be a result of his formal musical training in Germany.


Offrandes Vodouseques---Werner A. Jagerhuber

This video shows an opera singer singing to one of Jagerhuber's pieces Offrandes Vodouseques. This shows that Jagerhube's pieces can also be sung and not just performed by instruments. Jagerhube was not just a composer and a conductor but he was also an ethnographer. Without Jagerhuber's contributions to Caribbean music, plenty of Haiti's folk songs would have been lost. Additionally, he helped to inspire Haitian classical music.




References

Grenier, R. (2001). La Mélodie Vaudoo. Voodoo Art Songs: The Genesis of a Nationalist Music in the Republic of Haiti. Black Music Research Journal , 21(1), 29–74. Jstor.

Largey, M. (2006). Vodou Nation: Haitian Art Music and Cultural Nationalism. The University of Chicago Press.

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