Google on Saturday celebrated the 194th birthday of black Creole composer Edmond Dédé, who worked as the assistant conductor at the Grand Théâtre in France for more than four decades. Some of his famous compositions include Le Serment de L’Arabe Patriotisme and Le Palmier Overture.
According to a report by 9TO5Google, Dédé’s doodle was commissioned by Lyen Lucien, an artist from Brooklyn. The doodle shows Dédé conducting an orchestra, with a violin and clarinet behind him.
Dédé was born on November 20, 1827, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a poultry dealer and a music teacher. In the initial years, Dédé started learning the clarinet but soon made a switch over to the violin.
Many prominent musicians and composers taught Dédé how to compose his music. This lasted till the end of the Mexican–American War in 1848, when Edmond Dédé left the United States and moved to Mexico to look for work, according to the 9TO5Google report.
He came back to the US in 1851 and started working to save money to move to Europe. During the same year, Dédé published “Mon Pauvre Cœur,” which was his earliest surviving work of sheet music.
Edmond Dédé moved to Europe in the late 1850s and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris- a music school in Paris, France. In the early 1860s, Dédé became the assistant conductor of ballet at the prestigious Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux. He also worked at the Théâtre l’Alcazar.
Edmond Dédé married frenchwoman Sylvie Leflet in 1864 and the couple moved to Bordeaux. They had a son Eugène who went on to become a music hall conductor.
After he settled in Bordeaux, Edmond Dédé only visited New Orleans once in 1893. The 9TO5Google’s report said that during the voyage to the US, Dédé’s vessel was shipwrecked.
All passengers were rescued but Dédé's favourite violin was lost. However, he was able to obtain a suitable replacement ahead of his solo performance in New Orleans, the report added.
