Werner Jaegerhuber's Messe Sur Les Airs Vodouesques: The Inculturation of Vodou in a Catholic Mass

Werner Jaegerhuber's Messe sur les airs vodouesques is an exceptional creation due to the unprecedented integration of Haitian Vodou melodies in Catholic mass. (1) The composition of the Messe was begun in 1947 and completed in 1953. Its relatively long period of gestation suggests that the composer undertook the task on his own initiative. Progress on this work became known to Jaegerhuber's close friend and artistic collaborator, Louis Maximilien, (2) who was an influential member of committee responsible for organizing the festivities for the 150th anniversary of Haiti's independence, held on January 1, 1954. Maximilien, in the name of the committee, commissioned Jaegerhuber to complete the mass for the ceremonies accompanying the inauguration of the new cathedral in Les Gonaives, the city where independence was proclaimed in 1804. The committee responsible for the festivities, aided by its members who were representatives of the bishopric of Port-au-Prince and the Order of Spiritan Fathers, approached the bishop of Les Gonaives, Monseigneur Robert, (3) who, without full knowledge as to the nature of this composition, reluctantly accepted the concept of an artistic mass put before him. Jaegerhuber committed his skill to produce this Mass on Vodou Melodies, considering it an entirely appropriate work for this commemoration. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] However, among Haiti's Catholic clergy as well as some of the laity of the time there was little tolerance for the integration of elements of Haitian Vodou into the Roman liturgy. Evidence of this discomfort rests in the two different names the Messe was given. Initially, the composer's title directed our attention to the Vodou origin of many of the themes: Messe sur les airs vodouesques. Its secondary title, Messe folklorique haitienne, suggested to Jaegerhuber by Louis Maximilien, attempted to draw attention to more diffuse perspective by characterizing the origin of many of its melodies as generally folkloric and thus potentially less offensive to some. (4) The eventual refusal of Mgr. Robert to allow the Messe to be sung in his cathedral when Jaegerhuber's intentions became evident to him attests to what was considered the improbable merging of Christian and Vodou elements in Catholic liturgical work of art. Jaegerhuber's Messe suggested that rational bridge could be constructed and traversed from Catholicism to Vodou. As one of Haiti's Catholic hierarchy most vigorously prosecuting the antisuperstition campaigns, the prelate could not sanction the performance of such work in his cathedral. He, like many in Haiti at this time, regarded the practice of Vodou as regrettable element retarding the advancement of Haitian society. In his own words it was a bit of God and bit of the devil (Robert 1962, 1206). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The purpose of this article is twofold. In order to illustrate the originality of Jaegerhuber's achievement it is necessary to describe the asymmetric relationship between the two principal faith traditions in the Republic of Haiti. The contentious reception of the Messe registered among his contemporaries attests to the unresolved nature of this relationship. The second goal of the article rests in an understanding of what Jaegerhuber achieved in the Messe itself or in other words, how he, through work of art, could propose resolution to this enduring asymmetry. The first obstacle to this goal is that the composer left no written account as to his intentions regarding this work, whether social, artistic, or otherwise. As result, the score becomes the principal venue to develop our understanding. However, here there is an additional obstacle, since no authorized published edition is available nor even manuscript that, with assurance, may be ascribed to the hand of the composer. What has been preserved in the archives of the Societe de recherche et de diffusion de la musique haitienne in Montreal are two different scores. …

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