Pweson for Trombone and Piano
A folk song arrangement
by Aidan Chamberlain

Soundcloud

Google Slides

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oxwXP_BMGz0QRs_hYNxXzznPrAPueoXsXCQS9TqO9Yo/edit?usp=sharing

Context

Pweson is a Patois folk song from Trinidad and Tobago that describes fishermen leaving port, sailing around the various small islands off the Trinidad coast and bringing back fresh fish.  Pweson comes from the French word for fish, poisson.

Purpose and Significance

Much of the developmental material for brass players comes from the musical canon of Europe and the USA. Folk songs have, for many years, been used as a way of developing musicality whilst educating both performer and listener. This arrangement is part of a selection that aims to do just that through the folk songs of the Caribbean.

Arranger

Assistant Professor Aidan Chamberlain has been researching Caribbean folk songs from a number of sources; both printed folksong collections and online collections. These songs have been used to educate brass students in both brass performance and local traditions.

Language

This folksong, from Trinidad & Tobago, is in French Creole, locally called Patois. This is a language born of contact between speakers of French and speakers of a number of West African languages during the colonization of the Caribbean islands and the related enslavement of some African peoples. When the language came into contact with English in Trinidad, it acquired some elements of English vocabulary.

Research methods

A number of authoritative sources were consulted in creating authentic arrangements. The collections of Song Games from Trinidad and Tobago and Folksongs from Tobago, both by J.D. Elder, were especially informative.  Another excellent source was the American Folk Song Collection at the Kodaly Center at Holy Names University which also has a number of Caribbean folksongs in its collection.

Desmond Waithe, a well-known music educator in Trinidad and Tobago, was consulted on musical elements whilst Dr. Laurence Carrington, Professor Emeritus of Creole Linguistics at The University of the West Indies, was consulted on language and spelling.

Lyrics in Patois

Pweson, pweson

C’est une belle dejeuner

Pweson, pweson

C’est une belle dejeuner

Any Fish today, madame oye

Any Fish today, madame oye

Pweson, pweson

C’est une belle dejeuner

The fisherman is passing,

with all kinds of fish

The fisherman is passing,

with all kinds of fish

Poisson rouge, gran ton ton

Big fish and little fish

5 cents a heap