Band Music of Haitian Composer Occide Jeanty Available For Download at CDBaby.com

[Hommage á Occide Jeanty: Fanfare du Palais National d'Haiti; CDBaby.com]

A download of band music of the Haitian composer Occide Jeanty (1860-1936) is now available at CDBaby.com. The recording is not on CD. It can be downloaded for $9.99. Hommage á Occide Jeanty: Fanfare du Palais National d'Haiti can be translated to Hommage to Occide Jeanty: Fanfare of the Haitian National Palace.

The download page gives this description in French: « En concert au Champs-de-Mars, la Fanfare du Palais National d'Haiti interprète les plus belles pièces musicales du célèbre compositeur, arrangeur et chef d'orchestre Occide Jeanty. » The text translates as: "The most beautiful pieces of music of the famous composer, arranger and conductor Occide Jeanty in a live performance by the National Palace Band of Haiti at the Champs de Mars." The download has 13 tracks, which may be purchased individually or as an album:

1. Hymne National 0:35

2. Victoire Prochaine 3:25

3. Laeticia 5:59

4. Rentrée à Jerusalem 9:33

5. Sur la Tombe 8:25

6. Sainte-Anne 6:29

7. La Capoise 2:16

8. Les Zizipans 3:31

9. Coqs, Poulets et Poussins 6:55

10. Dévouement 4:07

11. Le Retour du Vieux Lion 10:19

12. Souvenir de la Classe 11:38

13. Gede Nibo 4:20

The Occide Jeanty page at AfriClassical.com is based primarily on two sources. One is the book Vodou Nation: Haitian Art Music And Cultural Nationalism, written by Michael Largey, and published by The University of Chicago Press (2006). The second consists of four decades of research by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin. He has generously made his research entry on Occide Jeanty available to AfriClassical.com. We learn from Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma that Occide Jeanty's return to Haiti took place in 1885: "In 1885 he left Paris to become music director to President Lysius Felicité Salomon writing musique du palais in Port-au-Prince, where a street was later named for him, and a stamp issued in centennial tribute in 1960."

Michael Largey writes: It was during his tenure with the Musique du Palais National from 1882 to 1916 - first as a cornet soloist and then as director of the group - that Jeanty turned his creative talents fully toward musical composition."