Art Music by Caribbean Composers: Guadeloupe

Abstract

Guadeloupe retains more than its colonial and cultural roots from France. It has been an Overseas Department of that country since 1946. Many of the art-musical styles of Guadeloupe are derived from the ballroom and couple-dance traditions of old, reinvented in a creole tradition: quadrilles, waltzes, biguines and mazurkas (Gerstin, 2007-2011). Two of the most influential and consumed popular music genres are gwoka and compas. The Festival Internationale Saint-Georges, held annually since 2010, was created to celebrate the music of Saint-Georges, to promote artists of colour and to perform classical music written by composers of African descent, though the main focus of the festival is classical music.