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Ludovic Lamothe  (1882-1953) Haitian Composer & Pianist "A Black Chopin"
Table of Contents   1 Birth   2 Lamothe CD   3 Music Education   4 Music of Haiti   5 Nationalist   6 Death   7 Haitian Composers   8 Works   9 Bibliography	A Vision of Ludovic Lamothe Evocation (5:46) Charles P. Phillips, piano IFA Music Records (2001)

1 Birth
Ludovic Lamothe is one of Haiti's most renowned classical composers.  He was born in Port-au-Prince, his country's capital, on May 12, 1882.  His father was Dr. Tacite Lamothe; his mother's name was Virginie Sampeur.  Both of his parents were pianists, and Ludovic took his first piano lessons from his mother.

2 Lamothe CD
A Vision of Ludovic Lamothe  is a recording on the IFA Music Records label, released in 2001.  It features piano works performed by Charles P. Phillips, a concert pianist who specializes in the Latin American and Caribbean repertoire.  The liner notes explain that the CD is a project of the Cultural Enlightenment Association of Ife.  The pieces include  Ballade in A Minor (Scenes de Carnaval #2) (6:17), Danza No. 1 (La Habanera) (3:27),  Evocation  (5:46), and  Danse Espagnole No. 4  (5:15). 

3 Music Education
Dominique-René de Lerma is Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.  He has generously made his research entry on Ludovic Lamothe available to this Website.  Here is an excerpt:   

He studied the piano and clarinet at the Institution St. Louis de Gonzague, moving to Paris for study with Louis Diemer at the Conservatory.

According to the liner notes, 1910 was the year in which Lamothe traveled to Paris and entered the Paris Conservatory.  Prof. De Lerma
adds:             

He was known as the “Black Chopin” in acknowledgement of his performances of that composer’s works.

4 Music of Haiti
The liner notes tell us of a change of focus in Lamothe's activities about 1930, when the composer started using elements of Haitian folk music in his works:

Around 1930, Lamothe turned his attention to studying the folklore and native music of his country and began to incorporate these rhythms and melodies in his musical compositions.

5 Nationalist
One of Lamothe's works,  Danza No. 3,  is analyzed in an article by Claude Carré in the September 2000 issue of the online magazine Boutoures.  Carré says of Lamothe (Translation from French):

He represents the nationalist movement in Haitian classical music.  A former student of the National Conservatory of Music of Paris, an emblematic figure, a piano virtuoso and a performer of Chopin, Lamothe left us a number of important compositions for piano.

6 Death
Lamothe became Chief of Music of the Republic of Haiti.  His life ended on April 4, 1953.  Three of his works are also available on  Music of The Haitian Masters,  IFA Music Records 256 (1999).  They are  Scherzo  (5:42),  Sobo (3:07), and  Meringue Haitienne, La dangereuse  (7:24).

7 Haitian Composers
The works on Music of the Haitian Masters  were all composed for solo piano, but are performed by Jean E. Saint-Eloi on MIDI guitar.  The other Haitian composers whose works are included on the CD are Justin Elie (1883-1931), Occide Jeanty (1860-1936) and Solon Verret.  They are profiled at this Web site as well.

8 Works
Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma
CD: Voix et Tambours d’Haiti;  Emile Desamours, conductor (1999; Bouquet Créole des nos Vingt Ans).
Billet, for medium voice & piano. Paris: n.p. [?].
Danza, orchestra, no. 1.
Danza, orchestra, no. 2.
Danza, orchestra, no. 3.
Danza, piano, no. 4 (1953). Port-au-Prince: Jean, Antoine, Ferdinand Lamothe, 1955 (Valse, danses espagnoles, scènes de carnaval et autres).
LP: Ruth Norman, piano.  Opus One 39 (1978).
Dangereuse, for piano.
Fantaises
Feuillet d’album, for piano.
CD: Paul Shaw, piano.  (Le grand tour; Paul Shaw plays Caribbean art music).
Fleures d’Haiti, for piano.
78rpm [?]: Victor; Ludovic Lamothe.
La dangereuse; Meringue haitienne, for piano. Bruxelles: Mahillon. 78rpm [?]: Victor.
CD: Jean Ernst Saint-Eloi, guitar, MIDI realised. (1999; Music of the Haitian masters, vol. 1).
Les jasmines
Nibo, Merengue de carnaval, for piano. New York: [n.p.?].
Papillons noirs, for piano. Bruxelles: Mahillon.
Retraite aux flmbeaux, for orchestra. Arr. By John Jost.
Scherzo, for piano.
CD: Jean Ernst Saint-Eloi, guitar, MIDI realised. (1999; Music of the Haitian masters, vol. 1).
Sobo, for piano.
CD: Jean Ernst Saint-Eloi, guitar, MIDI realised. (1999; Music of the Haitian masters, vol. 1).
---- for guitar, arr. by Frantz Casséus.
LP: Frantz Casséus, guitar. Folkways FP-811 (1953).
Sous la tonelle, for orchestra.
Tango, for piano. Port-au-Prince: Jean, Antoine, Ferdinand Lamothe, 1955. Library: Library of Congress.
Valse de concert
2 Valses de concert
Valses, danses espagnoles, scenes de carnaval et autres, for piano. Port-au-Prince: Jean, Antoine, Fernand Lamothe, 1955.  Library: Library of Congress.

Contents of anthology:

Danses Espagnoles
No. 1 en sol majeur.
No. 2 en la mineur
No. 3 en fa mineur
No. 4 en si mineur
No. 5 en mi mineur
No. 6 Tempo di valse [C sharp minor/D flat major]
No. 7 en re mineur
No 8 en mi b [flat] mineur
No 9 [G minor/major]

La Dangereuse: Meringue Hatienne

Nibo (Méringue de Carnaval)

Habanera (Danza No. 1)
Danza No. 2
Danza No. 3
Danza No. 4

Scénes de Carnaval
1.Prélude
2.Chanson d’Amour
3.Ballade
4.Danse Capoise
5.Retraite aux Flambeaux

Libellule: Caprice pour piano

Scherzo

Gavotte dans le style ancien

Loco

Sobo

Sous la Tonnelle

Feullet d’Album No. 1

Feullet d’Album No. 2

Evocation

Valse de concert en la bemol

Valse-Impromptu

Souvenir – Intermezzo – Valse

Valse Romantique

Déclaration

9 Bibliography
Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma
Black music research journal v10n2, p318 (-1953)

Bull 1964

Carter, Madison H.  An annotated catalogue of composers of African ancestry.  New York: Vantage Press, 1986.

Dauphin, Claude.  Notes pour l’audition de Ludovic Lamothe, Claude Dauphin, Edouard Wooley, Justin Elie, Werner Jaegerhuber, Michel-Étienne Descourtilz, Robert Durand, Carmen Brouard.  Montréal: Société des Recherche et de Diffusion de la Musique Haitienne, 1979. 11p.

Largey, Michael. “Lamothe, Lucien” in International dictionary of Black composers, ed. by Samuel A. Floyd, Jr.  Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999, v2, p710-713.

Lerma 1970, p197 (also Lamothe)

Southern, Eileen. “Lamothe, Ludovic” in Biographical dictionary of Afro-American and African musicians. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982, p237.  (The Greenwood encyclopedia of Black music).

Spencer 1987 (Lamothe, Ludovic)


 

This page was last updated on September 15, 2007