Occide Jeanty

Occide Jeanty (* 1860 in Port-au-Prince ; † 1936 ) was a Haitian composer .

Life

Jeanty was encouraged in his musical development by his father Occilius Jeanty , who was director of the Ecole Centrale de Musique . In 1881 he received a scholarship to study in Paris. Here he took cornet lessons from Jean-Baptiste Arban and piano lessons from Antoine François Marmontel at the Conservatory .

Allegedly not pursuing his studies with the necessary zeal, he was ordered back to Haiti, but due to his abilities he received the position of music director of the Musique du Palais National , the official military band of the Haitian President, from President Lysius Salomon in 1885 . In this capacity he composed eight processional marches, six funeral marches for Haitian dignitaries (including for Haitian President Florvil Hyppolite , for Tirésias Simon-Sam and Nord Alexis ) and four patriotic marches, including Dessalines ou 1804: Marche Guerrière , a march leading to the unofficial Anthem was used by the Haitian independence movement until 1934. In addition, the melody of today's Haitian presidential salute Quand nos Aïeux brisèrent leurs entraves ("When our ancestors shook off their chains") goes back to him.

He also composed Polkas, Gavotten and Merengues for the President's band, as well as pieces such as the patriotic Les Vautours de 6 Décembre , the program piece Coq, Poules, et Poussins and the Chant National based on a text by Oswald Durand . A street in Port-au-Prince was named after Jeanty, and he was honored with a portrait stamp on his 100th birthday in 1960.

source

• AfriClassical - Occide Jeanty