EXCLUSIVE: The work of two remarkable 19th century New Orleans composers – both Creole men of Color – is being rediscovered well over a hundred years after their passing.
Edmond Dédé (1827-1903), who was born free, studied clarinet and then violin, and wrote music for orchestra and piano, as well as the opera Morgiane. Pianist Basile Barès (1845-1902), who was born into slavery, wrote music for dance halls and other venues and “is the only American composer known to have a copyright assigned to his composition while he was enslaved,” according to the Music by Black Composers website.
The new documentary What We Can Know About Edmond and Basile, directed by Sascha Just, explores these extraordinary creators and the effort of New Orleans musicians of today to resurrect their work. The film is set to make its world premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival on October 24.
Composers Edmond Dédé (left) and Basile Barès
Historic New Orleans Collection/ Pierre Petit/Xavier University Archives & Special Collections
We have your first look at the film in the trailer above.
“Against the pressures of racial injustice, both wrote and performed operas and concert pieces popular with black and white audiences, challenging the notion that classical music has been an exclusively white domain,” notes a release. “Yet, since their lifetime, their compositions have not been performed, and some have never been presented to the public.”
Pianist Oscar Rossignoli in the documentary ‘What We Can Know About Edmond and Basile.’
Courtesy of Sascha Just
Among those helping a new generation discover the work of these composers is pianist Oscar Rossignoli, who presented a concert of Barès’ unpublished dances, and the ensemble OperaCréole with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra which together staged Dédé’s long lost opera Morgiane at St. Louis Cathedral.
“From rehearsals to costume fittings What We Can Know About Edmond and Basile documents the path to these premieres as a springboard into the composers’ extraordinary lives and Creole culture.”
Director Sascha Just
Courtesy of Ulrich Meinhard
Just, a native of Berlin now based in New York, directed 2022’s Ellis, the first feature-length documentary about New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr., “patriarch of the First Family of Jazz.” Her additional credits include Food Truck Kings Astoria (2023), for the French-German network Arte, about immigrant food truck vendors, and Swampbirds (2024), about the impact of coastal erosion in Louisiana on Cajun culture, also for Arte.
Watch the trailer for What We Can Know About Edmond and Basile above.