Aiden Armstrong
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Stoll Henry
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Music /
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Aiden Armstrong, Henry Stoll
Abstract
1804 marked Haiti’s victory against French colonial rule as well as liberation from centuries of slavery and oppression. As the country began navigating their new independence, music became a way to express joy, fear, and mixed ideas regarding this newfound freedom. While much of this music contains components unique to Haitian culture, much contains French and European influences which mirror that of traditional Classical era music. Given the popularity of opera during this musical era, it was common to quickly produce new operas by borrowing orchestration (music) from multiple previously established operas and changing the lyrics of the vocal lines. A key focus of this project will be to digitize such orchestration using Sibelius such that the Haitian lyrics may be added, thus the opera may be transcribed into a usable form. Apart from the opera, Cantate de Monsieur Méhul and multiple single choral pieces will be digitized to accomplish the same goal. In the end, this project aims to transcribe this music as quickly as possible so that this music can be performed by musicians in Haiti, at the University of Michigan, and all around the world. Apart from the resurrection of music from a historical era, the transcription of these manuscripts will contribute to the overall diversification of the collection of Classical music.
