Biguine
Encyclopedia
Biguine is a style of music that originated in Guadeloupe
and Martinique
in the 19th century.
The orchestrated biguine has taken a completely different route, however. Its more hybrid ancestry can be traced to Saint-Pierre
, an urban center which since the 19th century has harbored a considerable number of residents of French descendance. While it keeps the syncopated character of the bidgin bélè , this urban biguine takes on an almost Dixieland flavor by virtue of its complex instrumentation. The melody, while sung in Creole, uses a verse-refrain form, bespeaking an unmistakably French influence. The well-known Mwen désennd Sin Piè , as well as many other melodies popularized by Léona Gabriel, the Pierre Rassin Orchestra and Loulou Boislaville, among others, would fit into this category.
The characteristics of the drum and orchestrated biguines are distinguished by highlighting the stylistic elements of each, as well as indicating the place of origin. The same binary rhythmic pattern maintained by the tibwa is present in both cases, suggesting that this rhythm that characterizes the biguine , and could therefore be called its main identifying trait.
, nasal vocals and improvised instrumental solos; has its roots in West African ritual dances.
, the black musicians of Martinique created the biguine, which comprises three distinct styles, the biguine de salon, the biguine de bal and the biguines de rue. Lacking recognition at home, several biguine artists from Martinique moved to mainland France
, where they achieved greater popularity in Paris, especially in the wake of the colonial exhibition in 1931. The popularity of the biguine declined in the 1970s, when it began to be replaced by more commercial music.
The biguine is similar to New Orleans jazz
music, and may have influenced its development.
External link:
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
and Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in the 19th century.
History
Two main types of French antillean biguine can be identified based on the instrumentation in contemporary musical practice, which is call the drum biguine and the orchestrated biguine . Each of these refer to contexts of a specific origin. The drum biguine, or bidgin bélè in Creole, comes from a series of bélè dances performed since early colonial times by the slaves who inhabited the great sugar plantations. Musically, the bidgin bélè can be distinguished from the orchestrated biguine in the following ways: its instrumentation (cylindrical single-membraned drum (bèlè) and the rhythm sticks (tibwa); the call-and-response singing style; the soloist's improvisation, and the nasal voice quality. According to a recent study by Rosemain (1988), the biguine figured in fertility rituals practiced in West Africa, but its ritual significance has since disappeared in Martinique. The biguine could be thought of, then, as a continuation of a value system that is in essence African but now with the sugar plantations as its social platform. The late singers Ti-Émile, Ti-Raoul and Eugène Mona remain to this day symbols of the bidgin bélè.The orchestrated biguine has taken a completely different route, however. Its more hybrid ancestry can be traced to Saint-Pierre
Saint-Pierre, Martinique
Saint-Pierre is a town and commune of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique, founded in 1635 by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc. Before the total destruction of Saint-Pierre in 1902 by a volcanic eruption, it was the most important city of Martinique culturally and economically, being known...
, an urban center which since the 19th century has harbored a considerable number of residents of French descendance. While it keeps the syncopated character of the bidgin bélè , this urban biguine takes on an almost Dixieland flavor by virtue of its complex instrumentation. The melody, while sung in Creole, uses a verse-refrain form, bespeaking an unmistakably French influence. The well-known Mwen désennd Sin Piè , as well as many other melodies popularized by Léona Gabriel, the Pierre Rassin Orchestra and Loulou Boislaville, among others, would fit into this category.
The characteristics of the drum and orchestrated biguines are distinguished by highlighting the stylistic elements of each, as well as indicating the place of origin. The same binary rhythmic pattern maintained by the tibwa is present in both cases, suggesting that this rhythm that characterizes the biguine , and could therefore be called its main identifying trait.
Origin
bidgin bélè or drum biguine - originates in slave bèlè dances and characterized by the use of bélè drums and tibwa rhythm sticks, along with call and responseCall and response
Call and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements are punctuated by expressions from the listener."...
, nasal vocals and improvised instrumental solos; has its roots in West African ritual dances.
Orchestrated Biguine
By combining the traditional bèlè music with the polkaPolka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
, the black musicians of Martinique created the biguine, which comprises three distinct styles, the biguine de salon, the biguine de bal and the biguines de rue. Lacking recognition at home, several biguine artists from Martinique moved to mainland France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where they achieved greater popularity in Paris, especially in the wake of the colonial exhibition in 1931. The popularity of the biguine declined in the 1970s, when it began to be replaced by more commercial music.
The biguine is similar to New Orleans jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music, and may have influenced its development.
Biguine musicians
- Roger Fanfant (1900-1966)
- Henri Debs
- Alexandre Stellio (1885-1939)
- Émilien Antile
- Léona Gabriel (1891-1971)
- Al Lirvat (1916-2007)
- Robert Mavounzy
- Fernand Donatien(1922-2003)
- Sam Castendet(1906-1993)
- Barel Coppet(1920-2009
- Ernest Léardée(1896-1988)
- Gérard Laviny
- Fernande de Virel
- Honoré Coppet (1910-1990)
- Hurard Coppet
- Félix Valvert
- Eugène Delouche (1909-1975)
- Marius Cultier
- Paulo Rosine(1948-1993)
- Francisco
- Maurice Jalier
- Loulou Boislaville(1919-2001)
- Moune de Rivel
- Gertrude Seinin
- Gisèle Baka
- MalavoiMalavoiMalavoi was a Martinican band consisting of Mano Césaire, Jean-Paul Soïme, Christian de Negri, Denis Dantin, and Marcel Rémion. They formed in 1972, naming themselves after a kind of sugarcane and a street on Gorée, a Senegalese island...
- Max Ransay
- Abel Zenon
See also
- Beguine (dance)Beguine (dance)The beguine is a dance and music form, similar to a slow rumba, that was popular in the 1930s, coming from the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, where in local Creole Beke or Begue means a White person, and Beguine is the female form...
- Culture of MartiniqueCulture of MartiniqueAs an overseas départment of France, Martinique's culture is French and Caribbean. Its former capital, Saint-Pierre , was often referred to as the Paris of the Lesser Antilles. Following French custom, many businesses close at midday, then reopen later in the afternoon. The official language is...
- Music of MartiniqueMusic of MartiniqueThe music of Martinique has a heritage which is intertwined with that of its sister island, Guadeloupe. Despite their small size, the islands have created a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success of zouk music in the later 20th century...
- ZoukZoukZouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
External link:
- http://www.zouk-uk.com/