Haitian piano soloists, like Ludovic Lamothe, tended to play the quintolet more like five even pulses, giving the méringue a smoother, subtler feel. Occide Jeanty's Maria was written for the Musique du Palais, the official presidential band for the Haitian Republic. Jeanty was chief director and composer for the group and wrote most of the band's performance repertoire. The quintolet in "Maria" is the syncopated version, appearing first in the saxophones and horns, then answered by the flutes, clarinets, and trumpets. Most méringue for concert band followed this pattern, keeping the quintolet figure moving from low to high register, thus allowing the melody to alternate the méringue rhythm with sustained, heavily vibrated notes. The percussion parts also alternate the musical pulse and the quintolet rhythm, giving the méringue an additional lilt. Méringue were also used by proletarian audiences during Carnival time, especially in the nineteenth century. Unlike the elite méringue, intended for use on the dance floor, the Carnival méringue were directed at the elite members of Haitian society, either criticizing unpopular people in power or ridiculing their idiosyncrasies. The formulaic insults of the Haitian Carnival méringue bore some similarity to the early calypso picong, or "stinging," style. Rhythm A Kongo influence can be found in the persistent rhythmic figure that structured the melodies of the méringue, a syncopated five-beat pattern (often spoken as "dak-ta-dak-ta-dak") borrowed from the kata (time line) for the Vodou rhythm kongo and the rhythm used for carnival and rara bands, rabòday. The dance incorporated an emphasis on the gentle rolling of the hips seen in many Caribbean dances. In Haiti, this movement is sometimes called gouyad (verb from the French gouye, from the French grouiller, to move or stir) or mabouya, the name of the largest lizard on the island. Popular culture Like many other Caribbean styles, méringue is played by artists who are usually anonymous and, although their music is very much alive, they tend to be called "traditional." Haïti Chérie is a song that brings together the best traditional méringue bands presenting a repertoire of mostly anonymous classics. A notable exception is a song called, Choucoune or commonly known as "Ti Zwazo", an old méringue with lyrics by Haitian poet Oswald Durand. Harry Belafonte popularized it internationally as Yellow Bird, and it is now often mistakenly presented as Jamaican mento. See also Compas Merengue (Dominican version) Mini-jazz Twoubadou Salsa music References 19th-century music