Biguine
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Biguine is a style of music that originated in Martinique and Guadeloupe in the 19th century.
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[edit] 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, 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.
The classic music of carnival in the Antilles is an uptempo version of the biguine rhythm, called "biguine vide."
[edit] 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 response, nasal vocals and improvised instrumental solos; has its roots in West African ritual dances.
[edit] orchestrated biguine
By combining the traditional bèlè music with the polka, 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.
Throughout the long history of the biguine, the dominant sound has been that of the clarinet and trombone, both solo and as a duet, and, while the phrasing often recalls New Orleans jazz, the overall sound is unmistakably Caribbean. The signature sound of the beguine is the interplay between the clarinet and trombone, which can still be heard today throughout the Antilles musical milieu, from the most traditional music to the music of the cadence era or the pop sounds of today's zouk. Any contemporary music that uses beguine as its base, even that which ventures as far off as contemporary jazz, is considered "biguine moderne."
[edit] 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
- Malavoi
- Max Ransay
- Abel Zenon
[edit] See also
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