TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
An Historical Perspective of Old Time Trini Christmas
By HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR ANGELO BISSESSARSINGH
PART 1
Origin of Parang Music in T&T
While the advent of the Christmas festive season ABVMTT Community group places the spotlight on some of our local traditionals activities which made Christmas in Trinidad a unique and savoury experience. Today we take a step back in time to explore the origin of Parang Music as a national folk form .
Parang is a style of music that has long been associated with the Christmas festivities in Trinidad and Tobago. The word "Parang"comes from the Spanish word “parranda" which when translated simply refers to “the actions of a merry making group of serenadars". The singers were called paranderos and the musical form became known as Parang, the sound of Christmas in Trinidad & Tobago. The songs were sung in Spanish.
The emergence of parang is really attributable to the influx of peons, called the panyols, of Venezuela, who provided a significant percentage of the labour force during the cocoa boom years of 1870-1920. While parang has become fairly commercialized of late, the Christmas ritual, introduced by the panyols, actually involves three stages. In Lopinot, the tradition held true for many years, preserved by such sages as Sotero Gomez and Pedro Segundo Dolabaille. The first stage is when upon arrival at a hospitable home, the paranderos would sing from the doorstep, an Aguinaldo, or song of praise, telling of the Nativity, Adoration or Ascension of Christ. This is the signal for the householder to throw open his/her doors to the paranderos who continue to serenade the home with Aguinaldos until the descanso, or rest period, when the bards are regaled with victuals and drink consisting mainly of ham, pastelles and fruit cake, as well as sorrel and ginger beer.
From the doorsteps of the countryside, the parang music was taken to a national level by the artistry of pioneers like the late Parang Queen, Daisy Voisin and the Lara Brothers. While on the subject of music, it is interesting to note that in San Fernando during the 1870s to the 1890s, the crown jewel of the town’s Christmas events calendar consisted of a grand concert which was held first at the Oriental Hall on Carib Street (present-day location of Grant Memorial Presbyterian School) and later, at the Drill Hall (where Naparima Bowl now stands). The performers in this cantata almost unanimously hailed from the very musically-inclined Vilain family, who were a prominent coloured French Creole clan. Patriarch Jean-Marie Vilain, along with his sons Pierre, Alexander and Jean-Marie Jr. were gifted musicians. Pierre, until his death in 1879, even had an international reputation as a master of the violin which earned him the title of ‘The West Indian Paganini’. With the death of Jean Marie and Alexander in the 1890s, this chapter of San Fernando’s Christmas story was brought to an end. While the custom of house to house visits continues mostly in close-knit rural communities; this folk form has evolved over time and paring groups are invited to perform in malls and public places, as well as private functions and parties, as the Christmas season progresses.
In a follow up article tribute would be paid to the Legendary Parang Queen ,Daisy Voisin where a statue ( see photo below) has been erected in her memory in Siparia.
Drawing by T&T Artist Alfred Codallo’s “The Serenaders”