Exile's Song

Edmond Dede and the Unfinished Revolutions of the Atlantic World

McKee Sally

The extraordinary story of African American composer Edmond Dede, raised in antebellum New Orleans, and his remarkable career in France In 1855, Edmond Dede, a free black composer from New Orleans, emigrated to Paris. There he trained with France's best classical musicians and went on to spend thirty-six years in Bordeaux leading the city's most popular orchestras. How did this African American, raised in the biggest slave market in the United States, come to compose ballets for one of the best theaters outside of Paris and gain recognition as one of Bordeaux's most popular orchestra leaders? Beginning with his birth in antebellum New Orleans in 1827 and ending with his death in Paris in 1901, Sally McKee vividly recounts the life of this extraordinary man. From the Crescent City to the City of Light and on to the raucous music halls of Bordeaux, this intimate narrative history brings to life the lost world of exiles and travelers in a rapidly modernizing world that threatened to leave the most vulnerable behind.

About the Author

Sally McKee teaches history at the University of California, Davis, where she lives.

Reviews

"A fascinating journey through the musical worlds of Louisiana, Haiti, and France. Through a careful reconstruction of the remarkable life of Edmond Dede, 'The Exile's Song' offers us a rich cultural and sonic history of the nineteenth century Atlantic world" – Laurent Dubois, author of "The Banjo: America's African Instrument"

"This book stands at the forefront of the new transnational history of modern France. McKee writes beautifully, with an engaging style that draws the reader in" – Tyler Stovall, University of California, Santa Cruz

"The book is based on a fascinating life, and McKee presents a compelling narrative. Her work contributes to growing interest in Atlantic history and transnationalism, in biography, and in ways of experiencing and performing race in different contexts" – Jennifer Heuer, University of Massachusetts Amherst

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