The American classical musician, composer, and conductor, Edmond Dédé is long dead yet, his music compositions live more than a hundred years later. He was born a free Creole in New Orleans yet, racial segregation forced him to France where he achieved a successful career.
Dédé’s career spanned more than four decades and produced compositions such as; Mon Pauvre Coeur: Mélodie(1852) and Quasimodo Symphony.
Who is Edmond Dédé?
Edmond Dédé is a composer and opera singer who was born on November 20, 1827, in New Orleans to Haitian parents. His parents moved to the US from the west indies in 1809 while fleeing the Haitian revolution. Also, his father, a musician who also sang in the military band had great influence on his son’s interest in music.
Dédé started playing the clarinet but later switched to the violin, an instrument that became a signature to his career.
As mentioned earlier, his father was a great influence on him, yet, he was trained by other teachers including Ludovico Gabici, Constantin Debergue, and Eugène Prévost.
While honing his skills, he performed operas of famous musicians like Rodolphe Kreutzer.
Edmond Dédé Struggled To Launch a Successful Music Career in New Orleans
Edmond Dédé’s music career was filled with many challenges including racial segregation. Having launched a music career in his native New Orleans, his stellar performance attracted a large following for the composer and violinist, yet, it did not bring him the needed success.
One challenge he faced was selling his performance. At the time white composers put their faces on the cover of their sheets, unlike colored people. Also, he was not allowed to stage his opera in New Orleans even though he wrote beautiful music.
This forced him to move to Mexico at the age of 19. While there, he started working in a cigar factory to support himself. He returned to New Orleans around 1852. In the same year, he composed Mon Pauvre Coeur: Mélodie.
However, the civil war made his chances of having a successful career almost impossible forcing him to move to France in 1855.
He Had a Career Turn around in France
While in France, Dédé had a career breakthrough. After moving to France, he auditioned at different conservatoires -a places for studying classical music or other forms of arts mostly in Europe.
Soon enough, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire after he passed the audition in 1857. It was also while there that he met the famous French composers, Jean Delphin Alard and Jacques-François Halevy.
After his studies, he worked as an assistant conductor at the Grand Théâtre of Bordeaux, one of the famous theaters in France.
Aside from this, the New Orleans-born composer also spent the next 27 years conducting the orchestra at Theatre l’Alcazar in Paris. Aside from his work there, he also did smaller orchestras at Folies Bordelaise.
Shortly after the American civil ended, Dédé decided to return to the United States for a performance of his Quasimodo Symphony.
The planned event had been premiered on May 10, 1865, by Samuel Snaer Jr. pulled a huge crowd of both whites and colored people. However, Edmond did not show up marking the beginning of other absences.
It Took Him Many Decades to Return to New Orleans
The great conductor’s success was not felt in his native New Orleans and all his attempts to come ended in failure. On his last attempt in 1893, twenty-eight years later, he suffered misfortune as a result of a shipwreck in which he lost his violin.
The loss of the violin affected his performance.
Even after arriving safely, he was once rejected from performing at major venues due to racial segregation. However, his fans organized benefit concerts in his honor. Moreso, his return also helped in the legal battle against racial segregation. This would lead to the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling in 1896 – a controversial ruling which made it clear that racial laws did not violate the US constitution.
The Music Composer’s Marriage with Sylvie Leflet
Apart from having a thriving career in France, Edmond Dédé got married to a French woman from Toulouse in 1864. At the time of their marriage, Sylvie was twenty-nine years old. Importantly, the marriage was celebrated as another victory against slavery considering that Sylvie was a white woman.
Their marriage coincided with his musical breakthrough.
Notably, the marriage produced their only child, a son named Eugène Dédé who was born on January 12, 1867, in Bordeaux, France.
Per his son’s career, he also followed in his father’s footsteps as a music composer. Over the years, his compositions have been confused with that of his famous father.
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The Death of Edmond Dédé
After many decades of composing and performing in orchestras, Edmond Dédé died on January 5, 1903, in the 14th arrondissement, France.
Among his legacies is Mon Pauvre Coeur: Mélodie, one of the oldest music sheets by a Creole born in New Orleans. His music compositions are kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
During his 194th birthday celebration in 2021, Google displayed him on its doodle in France and the US.
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