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Abstract
Originally written for solo soprano with choir and organ, Werner Jaegerhuber completed this work in 1953, and his close friend and artistic collaborator, Louis Maximilien, commissioned it for the sesquicentennial of Haiti's independence on January 1, 1954. However, since there are no published scores or even a reliable manuscript of this piece, what has been kept in the archives of the Société de recherche et de diffusion de la musique Haïtienne in Montreal, Canada are two dissimilar scores by unknown sources. One is the choral and organ version, which was made by a professional copyist in the 1950's (judging by the type of paper they used) and the other is just vocal, which is most likely a 1970's version. John Jost, a well-known arranger and orchestrator of Haitian folk music, attempted to transcribe this mass for a string orchestra with choir as he thought that Jaegerhuber would have wished to have this type of ensemble at his disposition. The only problem is that Jost never wrote a score for that transcription. This critical performance edition is based upon his idea of the string orchestra, using the earlier manuscript alongside the cultural traditions of Haitian folk songs and rhythms, and Voodoo ceremonies' customs to create a clean version for the encouragement, promotion and assistance of future performances of this piece. The introduction provides a synopsis of Jaegerhuber's biography, style, and influences for an enlightened presentation. The description and editorial procedure include a background of the Mass and selected analyses of its organization. The conclusion is the newly edited full score. The appendixes comprise the facsimile of the unknown manuscript, the newly edited orchestral parts, and the full orchestral score from the original version of the Kyrie and Benedictus.
