Music of Saint Lucia
Encyclopedia
Saint Lucia
, an island in the Caribbean
, is home to many vibrant oral and folk traditions. The music of Saint Lucia is based on elements derived from the music of Africa
, especially rhythm
ically, and Western Europe
, dances like the quadrille
, polka
and waltz
. The banjo
and cuatro
are iconic Lucian folk instruments, especially a four-stringed banjo called the bwa poye. Celebratory songs called jwé show lyricism, and rhythmic complexity. The most important of the Afro-Lucian Creole folk dances is the kwadril
. Music is an integral part of Lucian folk holidays and celebrations, as well as the good-natured rivalry between the La Rose and La Marguerite
societies. There is little Western classical music on Saint Lucia, and the country's popular music
industry is only nascent. There are few recording opportunities, though live music and radio remain a vital part of Lucian culture. Popular music from abroad, especially Trinidadian styles like calypso
and soca
, is widespread.
Music education
has long been a part of Lucian public education in the primary school age groups. More recently, it has been introduced to older students, many of whom now participate in String Orchestras, wind ensembles, steelpan
bands and other musical enrichment opportunities. There is also a well-known government assisted non-profit music school, the Saint Lucia School of Music. The Ministry of Education sponsors a variety of festivals and other special events. The island is also home to the prestigious Saint Lucia Jazz Festival
and the Creole celebration Jounen Kwéyòl
.
, cuatro
, banjo
, guitar
and chak-chak
(a rattle
). The banjo and cuatro are regarded as particularly important in Saint Lucian culture, especially the small, four-stringed bwa poye, or skroud banjo. Saint Lucian dances include moulala, faci and comette (a derivative of the minuet
); however, the kwadril
is increasingly viewed as a national symbol. It is a highly stylized and formalized dance that derives from the European quadrille
. Jwé is a more informal form of Lucian folk music, and is performed at dances, wakes and other social events; performers improvise comedic and often biting or lyrics. Music also plays a role in the La Rose and La Marguerite
tradition of two rival societies that compete in celebration and form a fundamental part of Lucian culture.
Jwé
(play) is a form of rural Lucian folk music associated with beach parties, wake
s, débòt dances and full moon gatherings. Jwé is performed as an informal, social event that provide the chance for Lucians to show off their verbal skills, and communicate their comedic, social and political commentaries without offending people. Jwé includes both songs for men and women, both of which can be singers, though most Lucian folk instrumentalists are male. A jwé performance is considered good if the audience participates enthusiastically by clapping, responding to the leader and singing and dancing. Some Lucians avoid jwé altogether because of its sexually raunchy lyricism and atmosphere; nevertheless, elements of jwé have entered mainstream Lucian culture, such as the use of lang dévivé, or saying the opposite of what is meant.
Musical elements of jwé include gém (game song), listwa (storytelling
), jwé chanté (sung songs) and jwé dansé (song-play-dance). These forms are united by their use of the Creole language, their use of call-and-response singing between a leader and a chorus, with the exception of listwa, and the use of improvisation
. Jwé chanté and listwa are purely vocal styles with no accompaniment, nor any traditional dance; the other two are typically accompanied by a ka drum or sometimes the tibwa percussion sticks, which provides a rhythm for dancers.
Sung jwé, jwé chanté or chanté kont, is mostly part of the funeral wake tradition. A jwé chanté leader uses pantomime
to enact scenes from a story, or sometimes just the ribald double entendre
s from it. The gém (game song) are based around a leader who uses his own flourishes on a choreographed dance and improvises witty lyrics, while the audience participates in the performance. Jwé dansé includes four traditional dances. The solo is a couple dance, and the débòt, yonbòt and jwé pòté are all circle dance
s. The blòtjé is a musical movement found in all jwé dansé styles, occurring, for example, every four beats in the débòt dance.
. It is performed primarily at private parties which are organized by a host in a private home or rented hall, with musicians paid by the host. Kwadrils are held throughout the year, except during Lent
. The modern kwadril has declined in popularity; it had come to be seen as a symbol of colonialism around the time of independence, and was shunned as old-fashioned and out-of-date. More recently, some aspects of Lucian society have come to promote the quadrille as a symbol of Lucian culture.
Quadrilles are unlike other Lucian dances in that they must be memorized and choreographed, with only slight room for personal interpretation and improvisation. Learners act as a sort of apprentice for more established performers. A successful performance brings respect and prestige for all participants who dance the correct steps which are traditionally said to "demonstrate control over behavior, manner, and skills" and "symbolize... a set of special values linked with a higher social class".
Kwadril music is provided by an ensemble consisting of a four-stringed instrument, the cuatro (instrument)
, a rattle, the chakchak
, bones called zo, a violin
, banjo
(skroud, bwa pòyé), mandolin
and guitar
. A kwadril consists of five separate dances: the pwémyé fidji, dézyèm fidji, twazyèm fidji, katwiyèm fidji (also avantwa or lanmen dwèt) and gwan won (also grande rond). The musicians may also use a lakonmèt (mazurka
), schottische
or polka
; the lakonmèt, also called the mazouk, is especially popular and is the only closed couple dance which originated in Saint Lucia.
), baha (wooden trumpet
), chakchak (rattles), guitar and gwaj (scraper
).
The celebrations of both groups differ in that La Rose, the "English" faction, is characterized by noisiness, movement, participation, rhythm and exuberance, while La Marguerite, the "French" faction, is characterized by melody, discipline and restraint. There is a vibrant tradition of women singing factional songs related to this rivalry. Traditions common to both factions include the Omans, a sort of waltz
, Marches and the duple rhythm manpa (or maynan) dance. Kwadril and lakonmèt are also performed by La Rose.
s, drinking song
s, funereal music
and serenade
s and masquerade
s. The latter two traditions are nearly extinct in modern Saint Lucia. The masquerade was a celebration held near holidays like Easter and New Year's Day, which included an orchestra consisting of a tanbou tenbal, chakchak and a bamboo flute. This same ensemble also traditionally performs for cockfight
s, merry-go-rounds and vocal serenades, called séwinal in Lucian Creole.
The most widespread form of Lucian work song is the chanté siay, which accompanies the sawing of wood. The vocals are performed by a lead singer and two responding singers
, accompanied by a ka and tibwa duo. Both instruments are played in an atypical manner. The ka drum is played on the ground rather than upright, and the tibwa percussion sticks are struck against a bamboo or wooden stick rather than the rim of a drum.
Lucian drinking songs are the chanté abwè, which are rarely performed in recent years. Their traditional context, however, is the wibòt celebration, held during Christmas
time. Chanté abwè are performed in a game in which the singers, seated at a long table, take turns singing a new song each time their turn comes. Those who lasted the entire evening won prizes, often a bottle of rum.
s are held on the first and eighth night after a person has died, in contrast to other Caribbean islands, which hold their wakes on the first and ninth days. Wakes often include music, such as the singing of hymn
s and drumming. Traditional music for wakes is performed both inside and outside of the deceased's house. The mourners inside the house sing from a repertoire of songs that are in English and not French Creole, because they are derived from the English-using songs of Lucian churches. The songs include both hymns and sankeys (gospel songs), and are generally responsorial, led by a male singer with the slow, unsyncopated responses of the chorus in unison. The mourners outside the house traditionally perform drumming and a kind of responsorial song performed in Creole and without accompaniment, called kont
. These songs often related to the death of the deceased, and may deal with the cause of death, the last words
or events surrounding the death. Mourners also dance to both the débòt and bélè, accompanied zo or tibwa and ka.
The villages of La Grace
, Piaye
and Laborie
in the southwest area of Saint Lucia were known for a unique song-dance called the koutoumba. The koutoumba was only performed for the death of a djiné, a person descended from Africans who came to the island in the middle of the 19th century. The koutoumba is unique among Lucian folk dance in that it is performed by a sole dancer and using only two to four lines of text, which is evocative of the song's atmosphere rather than narrative. The last drummer who knew this tradition died in 1986.
region. Only one family, from Resina, in modern Saint Lucia claims to have the religious authority to perform and pass on the kélé rituals. Kélé is based around three deities, Eshu
, Shango
and Ogun
, and is similar to the Nigerian Ogun festival. Kélé's rituals involve contacting one's ancestors to ask for protection, especially "good crops, good health, and good fortune". Kélé has been underground for much of its history, and was only accepted by the Lucian Roman Catholic Church in the early 1960s.
Kélé rituals are accompanied by the drumming of the tanbou manman (mother drum) and the tanbou ich (child drum), which play four different rhythms at specified moments; these are the adan, èrè, koudou and kèré rhythms. Kélé rituals also include singing and dance, as well as feasting, praying to Ogun and the other gods, the smashing of the calabash
to appease Eshu at the end of the ceremony, the display of tools made of iron and steel to honor Ogun, and smooth stones to represent Shango, who also receives a ceremonially cleansed sacrificial ram.
. Music scholar Jocelyne Guilbault has called calypso the primary way modern Lucians "express social commentary". Along with calypso, Lucia has also imported the Trinidadian steelband and soca
traditions.
Some Lucian calypsonians recorded in the 1980s, mostly on 45-RPM discs which remain largely unavailable today. The Lucian music industry is quite small scale, due to the island's small market, its lack of recording studios and record producers, the widespread bootleg
ging of cassettes, and the general unavailability of funding for musical ventures. Saint Lucia is home to several radio stations including Radio St. Lucia
and Radio Caribbean International
, which play a variety of popular music; since 1989, St Lucian radio stations have played an increasing number of programs about Lucian culture and in the local Creole tongue.
Modern Saint Lucia has produced a few popular music
ians in various styles, but is most closely associated with calypso music
. Popular Lucian musicians include Tru Tones
, Rameau Poleon
, Prolifik
, Disturbing Joan
and Aimran Simmons
. Marie Selipha Sesenne Descartes
(known simply as "Sesenne") was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her work as a chantwelle and in the promotion of Saint Lucian traditional culture and music. Saint Lucian folk dance and theater includes flower dances, masquerade
s and the Papa Djab festival; various kinds of music are associated with these celebrations.
and then again at Guyana
's 1973 Carifesta. Two major folk groups emerged; they were The Helenites
(led by Clement Springer
) and Joyce Auguste
's The Hewanorra Voices
. Auguste later introduced folk music into Saint Lucian music education
. By the end of the 1980s, music and other aspects of Lucian culture was an integral part of the Lucian education system.
In the time leading up to independence from the United Kingdom in 1979, Saint Lucia underwent a profound political and cultural awakening and roots revival
which drew on the rise of the black consciousness movement of the United States, the influence of the Caribbean Ecumenical Consultation for Development on local culture and the loosening of restrictions from the powerful Roman Catholic Church on non-Christian cultural elements. Since 1973, the non-government organization Folk Research Centre
which seeks to "promote research into St. Lucian culture" and to "explore and clarify the role of culture in the development of our people".
were given to Saint Lucian artists, an event sponsored by the CDF. The Folk Research Centre has been a prominent part of Lucian cultural research since 1973, and has also published the journal Lucian Kaiso, devoted to Lucian calypso, since 1990. The island's calypso traditions are also celebrated at the annual kaiposium (a kaiso symposium
), held since 1987. The island's music industry remains little-known internationally and of small economic importance. The government of Saint Lucia has worked with the OECS to promote the regional music industry through intellectual property law and sponsoring festivals and other activities.
The most important festival in modern Lucian culture is the Jounen Kwéyòl
(International Creole Day) held annually on October 28 since 1983. The Jounen Kwéyòl is sponsored by the Bannzil Kwéyòl, an international organization. Lucian activities are run by the Folk Research Centre in conjunction with the National Research and Development Foundation
and the Mouvman Kwéyòl Sent Lisi (St. Lucia Creole Movement). Lucian law protects the owners of intellectual property, such as songwriter
s, through the Copyright Act of 1995; copyright
s are administered by the Hewanorra Musical Society
.
There is also a Saint Lucia Jazz Festival
that is a major attraction, and a well-known part of the local music scene. It has been an annual event for fifteen years, and has hosted a variety of jazz stars, in addition to local talent. The 2005 festival was a boost for the local music industry, netting $46 million dollars. The Festival is sponsored by a number of corporations and groups, perhaps most significantly BET
.
, or recorder
ensemble performance. In 2003, a string
program was instituted for primary students.
About 70% of schools teach music at the lower secondary level. Many of the schools that do not normally instruct in music may offer volunteer clubs or other more informal opportunities for musical enrichment. Many Lucian schools have formed ensembles, most commonly a wind ensemble
(30% of schools), or a steelpan
band (20%) or combo group (20%). The public education field has also collaborated with the Saint Lucia School of Music to form the National Youth Choir, String Orchestra and Secondary Schools Wind Ensemble. The governmental Ministry of Education also sponsors a number of festivals and musical special events, both for the benefit of all students and the enrichment of the musically-gifted among them.
The Saint Lucia School of Music is an independent institute of music education that has two branches on the island, one in the north and one in the south. It was established in 1987, and has a student body of around four hundred students. The School's professed goal is to provide music education at all levels, to offer community opportunities for musical enrichment, to facilitate the training and professional development of educators, and to establish the school as a musical resource. There is also a notable music Education Centre operated by a vocal group from the fishing village Anse la Raye
; this Centre provides music education opportunities for gifted and underprivileged children from across the island.
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
, an island in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, is home to many vibrant oral and folk traditions. The music of Saint Lucia is based on elements derived from the music of Africa
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
, especially rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
ically, and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, dances like the quadrille
Quadrille
Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...
, polka
Polka
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...
and waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
. The banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and cuatro
Cuatro (instrument)
The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....
are iconic Lucian folk instruments, especially a four-stringed banjo called the bwa poye. Celebratory songs called jwé show lyricism, and rhythmic complexity. The most important of the Afro-Lucian Creole folk dances is the kwadril
Kwadril
In French Caribbean culture, especially of the Lesser Antilles, the term kwadril is a Creole term referring to a folk dance derived from the quadrille. It consists of five separate dances: the pwémyé fidji, dézyèm fidji, twazyèm fidji, katwiyèm fidji and gwan won...
. Music is an integral part of Lucian folk holidays and celebrations, as well as the good-natured rivalry between the La Rose and La Marguerite
La Rose and La Marguerite
The societies of Saint Lucia are two historic associations on the Antillean island country of Saint Lucia, La Woz and La Magwit...
societies. There is little Western classical music on Saint Lucia, and the country's popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
industry is only nascent. There are few recording opportunities, though live music and radio remain a vital part of Lucian culture. Popular music from abroad, especially Trinidadian styles like calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
and soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, is widespread.
Music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
has long been a part of Lucian public education in the primary school age groups. More recently, it has been introduced to older students, many of whom now participate in String Orchestras, wind ensembles, steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
bands and other musical enrichment opportunities. There is also a well-known government assisted non-profit music school, the Saint Lucia School of Music. The Ministry of Education sponsors a variety of festivals and other special events. The island is also home to the prestigious Saint Lucia Jazz Festival
Saint Lucia Jazz Festival
The St. Lucia Jazz Festival is an annual internationally-known event which takes place on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. The event brings together international as well as local musicians...
and the Creole celebration Jounen Kwéyòl
Jounen Kwéyòl
Jounen Kwéyòl is a Saint Lucian festival that celebrates Creole culture. It is held on the last Sunday of October across the entire island, and has been held annually since 1984...
.
Folk music
A typical Saint Lucian folk band is based around the fiddleFiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, cuatro
Cuatro (instrument)
The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and chak-chak
Shak-shak
The shak-shak is a kind of Antillean musical instrument, similar to maracas. They are played in Barbados, Montserrat, Grenada and elsewhere in the Caribbean...
(a rattle
Rattle (percussion)
A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...
). The banjo and cuatro are regarded as particularly important in Saint Lucian culture, especially the small, four-stringed bwa poye, or skroud banjo. Saint Lucian dances include moulala, faci and comette (a derivative of the minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
); however, the kwadril
Kwadril
In French Caribbean culture, especially of the Lesser Antilles, the term kwadril is a Creole term referring to a folk dance derived from the quadrille. It consists of five separate dances: the pwémyé fidji, dézyèm fidji, twazyèm fidji, katwiyèm fidji and gwan won...
is increasingly viewed as a national symbol. It is a highly stylized and formalized dance that derives from the European quadrille
Quadrille
Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...
. Jwé is a more informal form of Lucian folk music, and is performed at dances, wakes and other social events; performers improvise comedic and often biting or lyrics. Music also plays a role in the La Rose and La Marguerite
La Rose and La Marguerite
The societies of Saint Lucia are two historic associations on the Antillean island country of Saint Lucia, La Woz and La Magwit...
tradition of two rival societies that compete in celebration and form a fundamental part of Lucian culture.
Jwé
Jwé
Jwé is a kind of rural music from Saint Lucia, performed informally at wakes, beach parties, full moon gatherings and other informal events, including débòt dances. Jwwé uses raunchy lyrics and innuendos to show off verbal skills, and to express political and comedic commentaries on current events...
(play) is a form of rural Lucian folk music associated with beach parties, wake
Wake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
s, débòt dances and full moon gatherings. Jwé is performed as an informal, social event that provide the chance for Lucians to show off their verbal skills, and communicate their comedic, social and political commentaries without offending people. Jwé includes both songs for men and women, both of which can be singers, though most Lucian folk instrumentalists are male. A jwé performance is considered good if the audience participates enthusiastically by clapping, responding to the leader and singing and dancing. Some Lucians avoid jwé altogether because of its sexually raunchy lyricism and atmosphere; nevertheless, elements of jwé have entered mainstream Lucian culture, such as the use of lang dévivé, or saying the opposite of what is meant.
Musical elements of jwé include gém (game song), listwa (storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
), jwé chanté (sung songs) and jwé dansé (song-play-dance). These forms are united by their use of the Creole language, their use of call-and-response singing between a leader and a chorus, with the exception of listwa, and the use of improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
. Jwé chanté and listwa are purely vocal styles with no accompaniment, nor any traditional dance; the other two are typically accompanied by a ka drum or sometimes the tibwa percussion sticks, which provides a rhythm for dancers.
Sung jwé, jwé chanté or chanté kont, is mostly part of the funeral wake tradition. A jwé chanté leader uses pantomime
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
to enact scenes from a story, or sometimes just the ribald double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
s from it. The gém (game song) are based around a leader who uses his own flourishes on a choreographed dance and improvises witty lyrics, while the audience participates in the performance. Jwé dansé includes four traditional dances. The solo is a couple dance, and the débòt, yonbòt and jwé pòté are all circle dance
Circle dance
"Circle dance" is the most common name for a style of traditional dance usually done in a circle without partners to musical accompaniment.-Description:...
s. The blòtjé is a musical movement found in all jwé dansé styles, occurring, for example, every four beats in the débòt dance.
Kwadril
Quadrille is a Lucian Creole folk dance derived from the European quadrilleQuadrille
Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...
. It is performed primarily at private parties which are organized by a host in a private home or rented hall, with musicians paid by the host. Kwadrils are held throughout the year, except during Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
. The modern kwadril has declined in popularity; it had come to be seen as a symbol of colonialism around the time of independence, and was shunned as old-fashioned and out-of-date. More recently, some aspects of Lucian society have come to promote the quadrille as a symbol of Lucian culture.
Quadrilles are unlike other Lucian dances in that they must be memorized and choreographed, with only slight room for personal interpretation and improvisation. Learners act as a sort of apprentice for more established performers. A successful performance brings respect and prestige for all participants who dance the correct steps which are traditionally said to "demonstrate control over behavior, manner, and skills" and "symbolize... a set of special values linked with a higher social class".
Kwadril music is provided by an ensemble consisting of a four-stringed instrument, the cuatro (instrument)
Cuatro (instrument)
The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....
, a rattle, the chakchak
Shak-shak
The shak-shak is a kind of Antillean musical instrument, similar to maracas. They are played in Barbados, Montserrat, Grenada and elsewhere in the Caribbean...
, bones called zo, a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
(skroud, bwa pòyé), mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. A kwadril consists of five separate dances: the pwémyé fidji, dézyèm fidji, twazyèm fidji, katwiyèm fidji (also avantwa or lanmen dwèt) and gwan won (also grande rond). The musicians may also use a lakonmèt (mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
), schottische
Schottische
The schottische is a partnered country dance, that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina , Finland , France, Italy, Norway , Portugal and Brazil , Spain ...
or polka
Polka
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 lakonmèt, also called the mazouk, is especially popular and is the only closed couple dance which originated in Saint Lucia.
La Rose and La Marguerite
La Rose and La Marguerite are rival societies that commemorate the Anglo-French heritage of the island; the factions represent the warring colonial powers, between whose hands Saint Lucia changed fourteen times.La Rose is held on August 3oth while La Margurite is held on October 17th.The societies date back to the early 19th century, when each village was home to competing organizations of the Roman Catholic Church. Both societies draw on English royalty traditions and have a number of positions, including the King, Queen, Prince, Princess and various lower titles like the Chief of Police and nurse. La Rose and La Marguerite meet once weekly except during Lent. At these meetings, which are on Saturday for La Rose and Sunday for La Marguerite, members sing or play instruments and dance. La Marguerite meetings feature the membership in a seat chorus with a leader, the chantwèl, standing, while La Rose meetings include instruments like the tanbouwen (tambourineTambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
), baha (wooden trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
), chakchak (rattles), guitar and gwaj (scraper
Güiro
The güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
).
The celebrations of both groups differ in that La Rose, the "English" faction, is characterized by noisiness, movement, participation, rhythm and exuberance, while La Marguerite, the "French" faction, is characterized by melody, discipline and restraint. There is a vibrant tradition of women singing factional songs related to this rivalry. Traditions common to both factions include the Omans, a sort of waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
, Marches and the duple rhythm manpa (or maynan) dance. Kwadril and lakonmèt are also performed by La Rose.
Other traditional styles
In addition to jwé and other music performed for entertainment, Saint Lucia is also home to styles used only for specific occasions. These include work songWork 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, drinking song
Drinking song
A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music...
s, funereal music
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
and serenade
Serenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
s and masquerade
Masquerade ceremony
A masquerade ceremony is a cultural or religious event involving the wearing of masks.Examples include the West African and African Diaspora masquerades, such as Egungun Masquerades, Northern Edo Masquerades, Caribbean Carnival and Jonkonnu.-External links:* - slideshow by Life magazine*...
s. The latter two traditions are nearly extinct in modern Saint Lucia. The masquerade was a celebration held near holidays like Easter and New Year's Day, which included an orchestra consisting of a tanbou tenbal, chakchak and a bamboo flute. This same ensemble also traditionally performs for cockfight
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters , held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout all states in the United States, Brazil, Australia and in most of Europe. It is still legal in several U.S. territories....
s, merry-go-rounds and vocal serenades, called séwinal in Lucian Creole.
The most widespread form of Lucian work song is the chanté siay, which accompanies the sawing of wood. The vocals are performed by a lead singer and two responding singers
Call 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."...
, accompanied by a ka and tibwa duo. Both instruments are played in an atypical manner. The ka drum is played on the ground rather than upright, and the tibwa percussion sticks are struck against a bamboo or wooden stick rather than the rim of a drum.
Lucian drinking songs are the chanté abwè, which are rarely performed in recent years. Their traditional context, however, is the wibòt celebration, held during Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
time. Chanté abwè are performed in a game in which the singers, seated at a long table, take turns singing a new song each time their turn comes. Those who lasted the entire evening won prizes, often a bottle of rum.
Bèlè
The bélè tradition is a form of Creole song and couple dance, performed one couple with a leader and chorus. They are performed in several contexts, most notably in funeral wakes. Bélè include the bélè anlè, bélè matjé, bélè anlawis and the bélè atè. The bélè anlawis is the only form which is not responsorial.Funeral music
On Saint Lucia, wakeWake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...
s are held on the first and eighth night after a person has died, in contrast to other Caribbean islands, which hold their wakes on the first and ninth days. Wakes often include music, such as the singing of hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s and drumming. Traditional music for wakes is performed both inside and outside of the deceased's house. The mourners inside the house sing from a repertoire of songs that are in English and not French Creole, because they are derived from the English-using songs of Lucian churches. The songs include both hymns and sankeys (gospel songs), and are generally responsorial, led by a male singer with the slow, unsyncopated responses of the chorus in unison. The mourners outside the house traditionally perform drumming and a kind of responsorial song performed in Creole and without accompaniment, called kont
Kont
Kont is a kind of Saint Lucian folk song, performed as part of the funereal ceremony by mourners outside the deceased's house. These mourners sing kont, a responsorial Creole song, accompanied by drumming. The lyrics may refer to the last words or other aspects of the deceased's death...
. These songs often related to the death of the deceased, and may deal with the cause of death, the last words
Last words
Last words are a person's final words spoken before death.Last Words may also refer to:* Last Words , an Australian punk band* Last Words , a memoir by George Carlin* Last Words , a 1968 short film directed by Werner Herzog...
or events surrounding the death. Mourners also dance to both the débòt and bélè, accompanied zo or tibwa and ka.
La Grace
La Grace is the replica of the brig from 18th century. The original ship of Augustine Herman bore this name in travels both merchant and exploratory around Europe, America, Caribbean and over the Atlantic Ocean. La Grace was also renown for her corsair activities...
, Piaye
Piaye
Piaye is a commiunity on the island of Saint Lucia; it is located on the southern coast, near Balembouche and Bongaloin the constituency of Choiseul, and shares its name with a nearby riverThis community started as a small settlement of workers who laboured on the Balembouche estate.In the...
and Laborie
Laborie
Laborie is a village on the south coast of Saint Lucia. It was originally called l'Islet a Caret after the Loggerhead sea turtles that were found in the area. The name Laborie is named after Baron de Laborie who was the French governor of Saint Lucia from 1784-1789...
in the southwest area of Saint Lucia were known for a unique song-dance called the koutoumba. The koutoumba was only performed for the death of a djiné, a person descended from Africans who came to the island in the middle of the 19th century. The koutoumba is unique among Lucian folk dance in that it is performed by a sole dancer and using only two to four lines of text, which is evocative of the song's atmosphere rather than narrative. The last drummer who knew this tradition died in 1986.
Kélé
Kélé is an Afro-Lucian religious tradition from the Djiné people of the BabonneauBabonneau
Babonneau is one of the regions of Saint Lucia, and is located in the northwest of the island.-References:*...
region. Only one family, from Resina, in modern Saint Lucia claims to have the religious authority to perform and pass on the kélé rituals. Kélé is based around three deities, Eshu
Eshu
Èṣù is both an orisha and one of the most well-known deities of the Yoruba mythology and its related New World traditions.He has a wide range of responsibilities: the protector of travelers, deity of roads, particularly...
, Shango
Shango
In the Yorùbá religion, Sàngó is perhaps one of the most popular Orisha; also known as the god of fire, lightning and thunder...
and Ogun
Ogoun
In the Yoruba and Haitian traditional belief system, Ogun is a orisha and loa who presides over iron, hunting, politics and war. He is the patron of smiths, and is usually displayed with a number of attributes: a machete or sabre, rum and tobacco...
, and is similar to the Nigerian Ogun festival. Kélé's rituals involve contacting one's ancestors to ask for protection, especially "good crops, good health, and good fortune". Kélé has been underground for much of its history, and was only accepted by the Lucian Roman Catholic Church in the early 1960s.
Kélé rituals are accompanied by the drumming of the tanbou manman (mother drum) and the tanbou ich (child drum), which play four different rhythms at specified moments; these are the adan, èrè, koudou and kèré rhythms. Kélé rituals also include singing and dance, as well as feasting, praying to Ogun and the other gods, the smashing of the calabash
Calabash
Lagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...
to appease Eshu at the end of the ceremony, the display of tools made of iron and steel to honor Ogun, and smooth stones to represent Shango, who also receives a ceremonially cleansed sacrificial ram.
Popular music
Lucian popular music can be traced back to the 1940s, when calypso became a part of the island's musical culture. Calypso is a lyrical Trinidadian genre, related to several styles found through the Antillean music areaMusic of the Lesser Antilles
The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the eastern and southern portion of the West Indies. Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music; much of the folk and popular music is also a part of the Afro-American...
. Music scholar Jocelyne Guilbault has called calypso the primary way modern Lucians "express social commentary". Along with calypso, Lucia has also imported the Trinidadian steelband and soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
traditions.
Some Lucian calypsonians recorded in the 1980s, mostly on 45-RPM discs which remain largely unavailable today. The Lucian music industry is quite small scale, due to the island's small market, its lack of recording studios and record producers, the widespread bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
ging of cassettes, and the general unavailability of funding for musical ventures. Saint Lucia is home to several radio stations including Radio St. Lucia
Radio St. Lucia
Radio St. Lucia is a radio station on Saint Lucia, located on the Morne Castries. For a long period of time it was the only radio station on the island. Its programming features a mixture of news, music, talk. they were once wholly owned and operated by the Government of Saint Lucia but has since...
and Radio Caribbean International
Radio Caribbean International
Radio Caribbean International is a radio station located on Saint Lucia, located in Castries.-External links:*...
, which play a variety of popular music; since 1989, St Lucian radio stations have played an increasing number of programs about Lucian culture and in the local Creole tongue.
Modern Saint Lucia has produced a few popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
ians in various styles, but is most closely associated with calypso music
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
. Popular Lucian musicians include Tru Tones
Tru Tones
The Tru Tones are a Saint Lucian band led by Ronald "Boo" Hinkson. The band formed in the 1960s and had a significant following in the 70s in the United Kingdom...
, Rameau Poleon
Rameau Poleon
Joseph "Rameau" Poleon, also known as "Papa Kilte", is a folk fiddler born in Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia. He has won the Best Violinist Competition in Saint Lucia twice, and was recipient of the Saint Lucia Medal of Merit from the Governor General of Saint Lucia in 2000.Encouraged by his father,...
, Prolifik
Prolifik
Prolifik is a Saint Lucian band made up of six long-time performers. Their music include calypso, cadence, hip hop music, rhythm and blues, reggae and jazz. They formed in 2004 and performed at the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival of that year, with Daddy Twan, a local reggae singer. Prolifik is a...
, Disturbing Joan
Disturbing Joan
Disturbing Joan is a Saint Lucian band that plays reggae, rock and funk. The members were local surfers who emerged from the local bar scene, getting their first big break by opening for Malcolm Jamal Warner's band in 2001 at Jazz on the Square. They released their debut, Bush Tea, in 2002 and...
and Aimran Simmons
Aimran Simmons
Aimran Simmons is a Saint Lucian musician, a pan player and leader of a musical experiment called Panergy. He is began performing at fourteen years old, with the Diamond Steel Orchestra, and then studied at the Saint Lucia School of Music...
. Marie Selipha Sesenne Descartes
Sesenne
Dame Marie Selipha Descartes , best known as Sesenne, was a Saint Lucian singer and cultural icon.-Biography:...
(known simply as "Sesenne") was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her work as a chantwelle and in the promotion of Saint Lucian traditional culture and music. Saint Lucian folk dance and theater includes flower dances, masquerade
Masquerade ball
A masquerade ball is an event which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. - History :...
s and the Papa Djab festival; various kinds of music are associated with these celebrations.
Roots revival
In 1969, three Saint Lucians (Eric Brandford, Primrose Bledman and Charles Cadet) collected numerous folk songs for a presentation at the 1969 Expo in GrenadaGrenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
and then again at Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
's 1973 Carifesta. Two major folk groups emerged; they were The Helenites
The Helenites
The Helenites were a popular Saint Lucian folk music group, led by Clement Springer. The Helenites were, along with The Hewanorra Voices, one of the island's earliest popular folk stars....
(led by Clement Springer
Clement Springer
Clement Springer is a Saint Lucian folk musician and folklorist, leader of a group called The Helenites. He is also a leader of the Saint Lucia Cultural Organization.-References:*...
) and Joyce Auguste
Joyce Auguste
Joyce Auguste was a Saint Lucian musician and leader of The Hewanorra Voices, which became a major popular folk band in the 1970s. Auguste also worked as music supervisor for the Saint Lucian school system and introduced folk music into the school curriculum....
's The Hewanorra Voices
The Hewanorra Voices
The Hewanorra Voices were a Lucian folk music ensemble, led by Joyce Auguste. They emerged in the 1970s, and were one of the premier groups of the Lucian roots revival, along with The Helenites. Their recordings include 1974's St. Lucia Jems and 1980's All Year Round With The Hewanorra Voices, both...
. Auguste later introduced folk music into Saint Lucian music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
. By the end of the 1980s, music and other aspects of Lucian culture was an integral part of the Lucian education system.
In the time leading up to independence from the United Kingdom in 1979, Saint Lucia underwent a profound political and cultural awakening and roots revival
Roots revival
A roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
which drew on the rise of the black consciousness movement of the United States, the influence of the Caribbean Ecumenical Consultation for Development on local culture and the loosening of restrictions from the powerful Roman Catholic Church on non-Christian cultural elements. Since 1973, the non-government organization Folk Research Centre
Folk Research Centre
The Folk Research Centre of Saint Lucia has studied and promoted the local music of Saint Lucia since its foundation in 1973....
which seeks to "promote research into St. Lucian culture" and to "explore and clarify the role of culture in the development of our people".
Government and industry
The government has seen value in promoting a music industry, and has formed the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) to accomplish this goal. In 2004, the first-ever M&C Fine Arts AwardsM&C Fine Arts Awards
The M&C Fine Arts Award is an award given to artists in Saint Lucia, currently run by the Cultural Development Foundation. The Awards began in 1979. Awards are given out in visual, literary and performing arts, and there is also a Joe Devaux Lifetime Award...
were given to Saint Lucian artists, an event sponsored by the CDF. The Folk Research Centre has been a prominent part of Lucian cultural research since 1973, and has also published the journal Lucian Kaiso, devoted to Lucian calypso, since 1990. The island's calypso traditions are also celebrated at the annual kaiposium (a kaiso symposium
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
), held since 1987. The island's music industry remains little-known internationally and of small economic importance. The government of Saint Lucia has worked with the OECS to promote the regional music industry through intellectual property law and sponsoring festivals and other activities.
Jounen Kwéyòl
Jounen Kwéyòl is a Saint Lucian festival that celebrates Creole culture. It is held on the last Sunday of October across the entire island, and has been held annually since 1984...
(International Creole Day) held annually on October 28 since 1983. The Jounen Kwéyòl is sponsored by the Bannzil Kwéyòl, an international organization. Lucian activities are run by the Folk Research Centre in conjunction with the National Research and Development Foundation
National Research and Development Foundation
The National Research and Development Foundation is a private non-governmental organization in Saint Lucia, organized in 1983. The Foundation emerged from the Caribbean Research Center, which similarly promoted research and development in Saint Lucia....
and the Mouvman Kwéyòl Sent Lisi (St. Lucia Creole Movement). Lucian law protects the owners of intellectual property, such as songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s, through the Copyright Act of 1995; copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
s are administered by the Hewanorra Musical Society
Hewanorra Musical Society
The Hewanorra Musical Society is an organization that administers the performing rights of its members and is responsible for licensing all public use of music in Saint Lucia....
.
There is also a Saint Lucia Jazz Festival
Saint Lucia Jazz Festival
The St. Lucia Jazz Festival is an annual internationally-known event which takes place on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. The event brings together international as well as local musicians...
that is a major attraction, and a well-known part of the local music scene. It has been an annual event for fifteen years, and has hosted a variety of jazz stars, in addition to local talent. The 2005 festival was a boost for the local music industry, netting $46 million dollars. The Festival is sponsored by a number of corporations and groups, perhaps most significantly BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
.
Education
Music is a part of the curriculum at public schools in Saint Lucia; it has long been taught in younger grade levels, but was only introduced to secondary education in 1999. Primary education on Saint Lucia, music and other artistic education is commonly used incidentally to teaching other subjects or for special occasions. About 40% of the island's schools engage in general music education, while others spent more time on general group singing or choirChoir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, or recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
ensemble performance. In 2003, a string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
program was instituted for primary students.
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
(30% of schools), or a steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
band (20%) or combo group (20%). The public education field has also collaborated with the Saint Lucia School of Music to form the National Youth Choir, String Orchestra and Secondary Schools Wind Ensemble. The governmental Ministry of Education also sponsors a number of festivals and musical special events, both for the benefit of all students and the enrichment of the musically-gifted among them.
The Saint Lucia School of Music is an independent institute of music education that has two branches on the island, one in the north and one in the south. It was established in 1987, and has a student body of around four hundred students. The School's professed goal is to provide music education at all levels, to offer community opportunities for musical enrichment, to facilitate the training and professional development of educators, and to establish the school as a musical resource. There is also a notable music Education Centre operated by a vocal group from the fishing village Anse la Raye
Anse La Raye
Anse la Raye is a town in Saint Lucia; it is located on the island's western side, near Marigot Bay. It is a picturesque place with fine examples of French and English colonial architecture....
; this Centre provides music education opportunities for gifted and underprivileged children from across the island.