This comprehensive
and abundantly illustrated study by Gérard Dôle, edited and translated
by Anita Conrade, is devoted to music and dance in Texas at the time of its
war for independence. Mr. Dôle sifted through a large number of documents,
old and new, in conducting his research for the book. Because a majority of
the Anglo-Celtic soldiers who made up the Alamo garrison had come to Texas
from homesteads in other parts of the United States, the author begins with
a study of dancing as a social activity in North America in the 18th and early
19th centuries. Next, he surveys the musical instruments, songs, and dance
melodies the Texians favored at the time, referring when necessary to the
music popular in the lands they had left behind: England, Scotland, Ireland,
Germany, and even Denmark. Mr. Dôle goes on to cite the tunes sung and
danced during the siege of the Alamo, both by its defenders (some of whom
were inside the fort with their families or their black slaves) and by its
attackers (who had attracted a motley crowd of camp followers). He mentions
the martial music (fifes and drums) on both sides. Finally, Mr. Dôle
explores Davy Crockett’s fiddle and John McGregor’s bagpipes.
According to the granddaughter of one of the few survivors of the massacre,
their duets were other-worldly. One can imagine the two men striking up a
lively jig or fling in order to distract their companions-in-arms, doomed
to certain death. For a brief instant, fiddle and pipes were a spirited match
for the ominous notes of General Santa Anna’s trumpets.
In the second part of the book,
“San Antonio Roze,” the author cites fifty documents as proof
that the Napoleonic officer Louis Roze (1785-1851) has wrongly been identified
as the mysterious Moses Rose, the Alamo deserter who claimed to have served
in Bonaparte’s Grande Armée. In truth, Lieutenant Louis Roze
never crossed the Atlantic, so he never set foot in Texas or on any other
American territory. After an illustrious and blameless military career,
he died in France, as the records show.
ISBN: 978-2-84362-474-2
Price: $ 30
Free shipping worldwide
ISBN: 978-2-84362-474-2
Prix : 25 Euros
Envoi gratuit dans le monde entier
