Méringue

Méringue(French pronunciation:[meʁɛ̃ɡ];Haitian Creole:mereng), also calledméringue lenteorméringue de salon(sloworsalonméringue),is adance musicand national symbol inHaiti.It is a string-based style played on theguitar, horn section, piano, and other string instruments unlike theaccordion-basedmerengue, and is generally sung inHaitian CreoleandFrench, as well as in English andSpanish.
Méringue was heavily influenced by thecontredansefrom Europe and then byAfro-Caribbeaninfluences fromHispaniola. The blend of African and European cultures has created popular dance music, music played on simple acoustic instruments by artists who don't need theaters or microphones to show off their art. The termmeringue, a whipped egg and sugar confection popular in eighteenth-century France, was adopted presumably because it captured the essence of the light nature of the dance where one gracefully shifts one's weight between feet in a very fluid movement, animating the final section of the Haitiankontradans. It is said that thecarabinier, a dance from Haiti originating back to the time of theHaitian Revolution, combined European dances accompanied byKongo influences, deriving from a section of kontradans and is said to have evolved into the méringue. However, like almost all Latin American dances, the méringue can trace its origins back to thecontredanse; the French dance that was hugely popular in Europe and the creolization of it by the use of the drums, poetic song, antiphonal song form, and imitations of colonial elite dance elements by themulattosand the black slaves that had already begun to transform the genre.
Méringue was claimed by botheliteandproletarianHaitian audiences as a representative expression of Haitian cultural values. Elite Haitian composers, many of whom were trained in Europe and wrote in a European-influenced style, used the méringue as a vehicle for their creative talents. Composers such asOccide Jeanty; his father,Occilius;Ludovic Lamothe;Justin Elie;Franck Lassègue; andFernand Frangeulwrote méringue for solo piano and sometimes for small groups of wind instruments. Often, these elite méringue were named for people-for example,François Manigat'sEight Days while Staying in Cap (Haïtien). The méringue is based on a five-note rhythm, orquintuplet, known in French as aquintoletand Spanish (fromCuba) as acinquillo. The quintolet is unevenly subdivided, giving an appropriate feeling of "long-short-long-short-long." While the concert méringue tended to use the syncopated version, Haitian piano soloists, likeLudovic Lamothe, tended to play the quintolet more like five even pulses, giving the méringue a smoother, subtler feel. Occide Jeanty'sMariawas written for the Musique du Palais, the official presidential band for the Haitian Republic. Jeanty was chief director and composer for the group and wrote most of the band's performance repertoire. The quintolet in "Maria" is the syncopated version, appearing first in the saxophones and horns,  then answered by theflutes,clarinets, andtrumpets. Most méringue for concert band followed this pattern, keeping the quintolet figure moving from low to high register, thus allowing the melody to alternate the méringue rhythm with sustained, heavily vibrated notes. The percussion parts also alternate the musical pulse and the quintolet rhythm, giving the méringue an additional lilt. Méringue were also used by proletarian audiences duringCarnivaltime, especially in the nineteenth century. Unlike the elite méringue, intended for use on the dance floor, the Carnival méringue were directed at the elite members of Haitian society, either criticizing unpopular people in power or ridiculing their idiosyncrasies. The formulaic insults of the Haitian Carnival méringue bore some similarity to the early calypsopicong, or "stinging," style.
AKongo influencecan be found in the persistent rhythmic figure that structured the melodies of the méringue, a syncopated five-beat pattern (often spoken as "dak-ta-dak-ta-dak") borrowed from thekata(time line) for the Vodou rhythmkongoand the rhythm used for carnival andrarabands,rabòday. The dance incorporated an emphasis on the gentle rolling of the hips seen in many Caribbean dances. In Haiti, this movement is sometimes calledgouyad(verb from the Frenchgouye, from the Frenchgrouiller, to move or stir) ormabouya, the name of the largest lizard on the island.
Like many other Caribbean styles, méringue is played by artists who are usually anonymous and, although their music is very much alive, they tend to be called "traditional."Haïti Chérieis a song that brings together the best traditional méringue bands presenting a repertoire of mostly anonymous classics. A notable exception is a song called,Choucouneor commonly known as "Ti Zwazo", an old méringue with lyrics by Haitian poetOswald Durand.Harry Belafontepopularized it internationally asYellow Bird, and it is now often mistakenly presented asJamaican mento.