Music of Trinidad and Tobago
The music of Trinidad and Tobago is best known for its calypso music, soca music, chutney music, and steelpan. Calypso's internationally noted performances in the 1950s from native artists such as Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. The art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte. Along with folk songs and African- and Indian-based classical forms, cross-cultural interactions have produced other indigenous forms of music including soca, rapso, parang, chutney, and other derivative and fusion styles. There are also local communities which practice and experiment with international classical and pop music, often fusing them with local steelpan instruments.
MusicTT was established in 2014 to facilitate the business development and export activity of the music industry in Trinidad and Tobago.
History[edit]
The Cedula of Population of 1783 laid the foundation and growth of the population of Trinidad. The island's Spanish possessors contributed little towards advancements, with El Dorado the focus; Trinidad's geographical location made it the center of that focus. Following the Cedula, French planters (accompanied by their slaves, free coloreds and mulattos) from the French Antilles of Martinique, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Dominica migrated to the Trinidad. This exodus was encouraged due to the French Revolution. The Spanish also gave many incentives to lure settlers to the island, including exemption from taxes for 10 years and land grants in accordance to the terms set out in the Cedula. These new immigrants established local communities of Blanchisseuse, Champs Fleurs, Paramin, Cascade, Carenage and Laventille. Trinidad's population jumped from less than 1,400 in 1777, to over 15,000 by the end of 1789. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking population.
Carnival had arrived with the French. Indentured laborers and slaves, who could not take part in Carnival, formed their own, parallel celebration, canboulay, which became the precursor for the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival, and has played an important role in the development of Trinidad's culture.[1]
Official and elite unease over carnival revelry (which was considered violent and unruly) grew during the next few decades, and in 1883 drumming was banned in an attempt to clean up Carnival. This injunction came after a serious disturbance during the 1881 Carnival, known as the Canboulay Riots. Canboulays were processions during carnival that commemorated the harvesting of burnt cane fields during slavery, a process so labor-intensive that it had often involved forced marches of slaves from neighboring plantations to more efficiently harvest the cane (once the field is burned, the cane requires immediate harvesting, or it spoils). These canboulay processions were popular, and often incorporated kalenda. The government's attempt to ban the processions in 1881 resulted in open riots between Afro-Creole revelers and police, a turn of events that, not surprisingly, caused deep resentment within Trinidadian society toward the government's use of power. The open resistance of Afro-Creole revelers, of course, redoubled concerns among government officials over this potential threat to public order and led to an alternative strategy—the banning of drumming—in 1883. To make sure that the point got across, stick-fighting itself was banned in 1884. An ingenious substitute for the drums and sticks, called tamboo bamboo, was introduced in the 1890s.[2]
Tamboo-bamboo bands consist of three different instruments (each cut from bamboo): boom, foulé, and cutter. The boom serves as the bass instrument, is usually about five feet long, and is played by stamping it on the ground. The foulé, a higher-pitched instrument, consists of two pieces of bamboo, each about a foot long, and is played by striking these pieces end to end. The cutter, the highest-pitched instrument in the ensemble, is made from a thinner piece of bamboo (of varying length) and is struck with a stick. These three types of instruments combined to beat out rhythms that accompanied the chantwells and were a staple of carnival celebrations for many years. They were gradually rendered obsolete by the steel band.
The 1930s saw contests between tents become a standard part of Carnival, and in 1939, Growling Tiger was crowned the first calypso monarch of Trinidad (for his song, "The Labor Situation in Trinidad"). Carnival festivities split into two kinds of venues during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, occupying both the street and more performance-oriented calypso tents. Both of these spaces, however, were the preserve of the lower class and of Afro-Creoles. Calypsonians were considered potentially dangerous by elites and government officials because they commanded large followings and could sway public opinion with their songs. The streets were also carefully monitored, setting up an atmosphere within which calypso and Carnival were embraced by the lower class and kept at a distance by elites. The Afro-Creole middle class, moreover, working toward upward social mobility and thus concerned with aligning itself with the elite, also attempted to distance itself from Carnival and calypso.
Beginning in 1845, major influxes of indentured immigrants from India and other parts of the world dramatically changed the ethnic composition of the islands. These indentured servants brought their own folk music, primarily from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, to the creole mix, resulting in chutney music. In addition to Indians, Syrians, Portuguese, Chinese and Africans came to the islands in waves between 1845 and 1917, and even after.
Brass bands[edit]
Starting in 1986, David Rudder popularized the brass band in Carnival competitions. Brass bands had long been a part of Trinidad's cultural heritage, but Rudder helped inspire the founding of the Caribbean Brass Festival in 1991.
Pop, rock and alternative music[edit]
Trinidad and Tobago has an underground pop, rock and heavy metal scene with many small shows being held throughout the year. The largest of such shows are the annual Pop Music Awards held at the Tsunami nightclub in Chaguaramas and the Samaan Tree Rock Festival in Aranguez.
Western classical[edit]
There is a long tradition of western classical music, both instrumental and choral, dating back to the colonial era under the British. The Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival is a primary showcase for these art forms. Choral groups, steelband and traditional western orchestras, smaller ensembles, music schools and programmes, and others stage shows[20] at venues around the country, particularly at the Queen's Hall in Port of Spain; the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine Campus); Central Bank Auditorium; Simon Bolivar auditorium; churches and cathedrals; and at the new National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), which was opened in 2009 but closed down in 2014 for renovations. Popular proponents of the Western Classical form include the St Augustine Chamber Orchestra/Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic (the largest symphony orchestra and largest youth orchestra in the English-speaking Caribbean), Marionettes Chorale (the first choir to blend choral voices with the steelpan),[21] Eastern Performing Arts Fraternity and Eastern Youth Chorale, Lydian Singers, UWI Festival Arts Chorale; the National Philharmonic and the National Steel Symphony Orchestra, and the Classical Music Development Foundation, among others.
Hindustani classical[edit]
Historically, the indentured laborers who came from India brought with them the form of authentic Indian Classical Music. A form of local Indo-Trinidad classical music was later created. However, organisations were able to keep the pure classical form alive. Bharatiya Vidya Sansthaan, under the guidance of Prof. Hari Shankara Adesh, was the first institution to provide courses in the authentic classical artform of India.
Prof. Rajesh Kelkar (from historic Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda), went to remote villages of Trinidad and taught classical and devotional music with missionary zeal.