Music of Réunion
Encyclopedia
Réunion
is located east of Madagascar
and is a province (département) of France
. Réunion is home to maloya
and sega music
, the latter along with neighbor Mauritius
.
s and work song
s.
community and rock culture is also becoming strong on the island.
Rap
, Reggae
, Zouk
, Ragga
and Dancehall
are also popular. One popular ragga song recently is Ragga Chikungunya
about the 2005 mosquito disease outbreak.
, Ousanousava and Ziskakan
. The most popular maloya musicians are Danyel Waro and Firmin Viry. Other popular singers include Maxime Laope, Léon Céleste, Henri Madoré and Mapou
, named after a kind of perfumed sugarcane
candy
. Musicians from nearby Mauritius are also popular.
in the 1950s and 1960s. The song was written by Maxime Laope, one of the island's most popular singers, and performed by another renowned singer, Henri Madoré.
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
is located east of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and is a province (département) of 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...
. Réunion is home to maloya
Maloya
Maloya is one of the two major music genres of Réunion, usually sung in Réunion Creole, traditionally with a purely percussion accompaniment. It has origins in the music of slaves on the island, as has the other folk music of Réunion, sega. It is sometimes compared to the American music, the...
and sega music
Sega music
Sega music or Séga is the major music of the Mascarene Islands: Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues as well as of the Seychelles. Sega is similar to the Réunionnais music genre maloya. Another form of dance similar to the sega is the Seychellois moutya. Sega music originated among the slave...
, the latter along with neighbor Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
Maloya
Maloya has a strong African element reflected in the use of slave chantChant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
s and work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s.
Non-traditional music
In Réunion there is a very strong jazzJazz
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...
community and rock culture is also becoming strong on the island.
Rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
, Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, Zouk
Zouk
Zouk 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...
, Ragga
Ragga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
and Dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
are also popular. One popular ragga song recently is Ragga Chikungunya
Chikungunya
Chikungunya virus is an insect-borne virus, of the genus Alphavirus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. There have been recent breakouts of CHIKV associated with severe illness...
about the 2005 mosquito disease outbreak.
Popular musicians
The most popular sega musicians include BasterBaster (band)
Baster is a band which from Réunion founded in 1983. They perform sega, maloya and reggae. Their music has been described as electric maloya. They are one of the most popular maloya groups and perform a poetic and lyrical form of the genre....
, Ousanousava and Ziskakan
Ziskakan
Ziskakan is a maloya group from Réunion. The frontman is Gilbert Pounia. They are one of the most famous bands from the island. The band formed in 1979. Their style includes adding modern techniques to traditional maloya , as well as adding Indian instruments...
. The most popular maloya musicians are Danyel Waro and Firmin Viry. Other popular singers include Maxime Laope, Léon Céleste, Henri Madoré and Mapou
Mapou
For the tree of the same name see MatipoMapou is a village in the northern part of the island of Mauritius. It serves the district capital of Rivière du Rempart. The island are linked with the coastal road as well as a road to Triolet and Port Louis. the village also has a post office, a primary...
, named after a kind of perfumed sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
. Musicians from nearby Mauritius are also popular.
Ti Fleur Fanée
The unofficial national anthem of Réunion is a song originally sung by Georges Fourcade called Ti Fleur FanéeMadina
The song "Madina" was chosen as the theme song by the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision FrançaiseOffice de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française
The Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1974, with providing public radio and television in France.-Post World War II:...
in the 1950s and 1960s. The song was written by Maxime Laope, one of the island's most popular singers, and performed by another renowned singer, Henri Madoré.