Baron Cimetière's Mambo Donald Grantham

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In Voodoo lore, Baron Cimetiére is the loa (spirit) who is the keeper and guardian of cemeteries, hence one of the spirits in charge of the intersection between life and death. ["Cimetiére" is French for "cemetery."] Depictions of him are, needless to say, quite chilling. He is usually pictured in dark tailcoat and tall dark hat like an undertaker wearing dark glasses with one lens missing. He carries a cane, smokes cigars, and is a notorious mocker and trickster. (The Haitian dictator Papa Doc' Duvalier is said to have imitated the Baron's sartorial style in order to intimidate any opponents who were practitioners of Voodoo.)

I first came across Baron Cimetiére in Russell Bank's fascinating novel Continental Drift, which deals with the collision between American and Haitian culture during the boat people episodes of the late 1970s and early 80s. Voodoo is a strong element of that novel, and when my mambo began to take on a dark, mordant, sinister quality, I decided to link it to the Baron.

Baron Cimetiére's Mambo was commissioned by Neil Jenkins and Nikk Pilato for the J.P. Taravella High School Wind Orchestra, Coral Springs, Florida.

- Program Note by Donald Grantham