Choucoune (song)

Choucoune (Haitian Creole: Choukoun) is a 19th-century Haitian song composed by Michel Mauléart Monton with lyrics from a poem by Oswald Durand. It was rewritten with English lyrics in the 20th century as Yellow Bird.

Choucoune

One of Oswald Durand's most famous works, the 1883 Choucoune is a lyrical poem that praises the beauty of a Haitian woman of that nickname. Michel Mauléart Monton, an American-born pianist with a Haitian father and American mother composed music for the poem in 1893, appropriating some French and Caribbean fragments to create his tune. The song Choucoune was first performed in Port-au-Prince on 14 May 14, 1893. It became a popular méringue lente (slow méringue) in Haiti, and was played prominently during the bicentennial celebrations in Port-au-Prince in 1949. Choucoune was recorded by "Katherine Dunham and her Ensemble" for the Decca album "Afro-Caribbean Songs and Rhythms" released in 1946 (with the title spelled as Choucounne), and was first recorded in Haiti by Emerante (Emy) de Pradines for her "Voodoo - Authentic Music of Haiti" album (Remington R-199-151) released in the USA in 1953.

Choucoune (poem)

Choucoune (Haitian Creole: Choukoun) is an 1883 poem by Haitian poet Oswald Durand. Its words are in Haitian Creole and became the lyrics to the song Choucoune, later rewritten in English as Yellow Bird, based on the words "ti zwazo" (French: petit oiseau; little bird) from the Durand poem.

Durand's inspiration for the poem was a marabou woman named Marie Noel Belizaire—nicknamed Choucoune—who ran a restaurant in Cap-Haïtien. She met Durand, and the two had a romantic liaison. In the poem, Choucoune deserts the poet for a Frenchman's favors. Reportedly the real Choucoune and Durand parted because of the poet's serial philandering.

Marie Noel Belizaire is said to have died in 1924, her seventy-first year, having spent the last portion of her life in her native village of La-Plaine-du-Nord as a beggar—but still widely recognized as the subject of Durand's poem.

References

Song

A song is a single (and often standalone) work of music intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. Written words created specifically for music or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs in a simple style that are learned informally are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers for concert performances. Songs are performed live and recorded. Songs may also appear in plays, musical theatre, stage shows of any form, and within operas.

& (disambiguation)

&, or ampersand, is a typographic symbol.

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Song (airline)

Song, LLC was a low-cost air service within an airline brand owned and operated by Delta Air Lines from 2003 to 2006.

Song's main focus was on leisure traffic between the northeastern United States and Florida, a market where it competed with JetBlue Airways. It also operated flights between Florida and the West Coast, and from the Northeast to the west coast.

Song's aircraft were fitted with leather seats and free personal entertainment systems at every seat, with audio MP3 programmable selections, trivia games that could be played against other passengers, a flight tracker, and satellite television (provided by the DISH Network). Song offered free beverages, but charged for meals and liquor. Both brand-name snack boxes and healthy organic meals were offered. The flight safety instructions were sung or otherwise artistically interpreted, depending on the cabin crew. In addition to crew uniforms designed by Kate Spade, customized cocktails created by nightlife impresario Rande Gerber and an in-flight exercise program designed by New York City fitness guru David Barton, the airline created its own distinct mark in the industry. The Song brand was placed on more than 200 flights a day which carried over ten million passengers.