Annie Malcolm, age 13, of Manchester, N.H., for her question:
WHERE DID CALYPSO MUSIC COME FROM?
Calypso i s a happy sounding folk music that comes from the island of Trinidad i n the Caribbean Sea. Calypso songs are i n a two four or four four time, with an extremely strong best or rhythms of African songs.
Experts cannot agree on the meaning of the word calypso. Some of them think that i t comes from the African world Kai so, which means bravo, a word often used to praise a good singers. Other experts say this isn't so, and that it is just a coined word.
Words in a calypso song are more important than the music. Cleverness is choosing words and in making up rhymes on the spot marks the champion calypso singer.
The lyrics in a calypso song may express a personal philosophy or comment on local events and gossip. Calypso songs with nonsense verses are called bracket. Songs about serious subjects are know as ballode.
Almost any instrument may be used for calypso music. Early instruments included bamboo pieces and rattles.
Many calypso singers today use drums, flutes, guitars, saxephones and even rattles for accompaniment.
Calypso music originated i n the songs of the African slaves who worked i n the plantation fields of Trinidad. They were forbidden to talk to each other, and they cleverly used calypso to communicate feelings and information.
To fool their masters, the slaves sang in a French Creole dialect called patois.
Since the early days, annual calypso singing competitions were held at carnival time. After slavery was abolished i n 1 838, these competitions became more popular and attracted many visitors to Trinidad.
Today many of the popular calypso singers in Trinidad take unusual names. Common are such names as Attila the Hun and Richard the Lion Hearted.
Calypso music has spread from Trinidad throughout the Caribbean area and even to other parts of the world. Today fine performers provide concerts of the rhythmic music i n auditoriums around the world.
A number of calypso songs have become popular standards in the United States and Canada with their English version. Included are "Day O" or the "Banana Boat Song" and "Mary Ann."
Calypso is also the name of a sea nymph in Greek mythology. Odysseus was shipwrecked on the lonely island where she lived. She promised him that he would never die i f he stayed with her. They lived together happily for seven years.
Then in the mythology, Zeus sent Hermes to Calypso with an order that she must let Odysseus go. She helped him build a raft. But soon after he left, she died of grief.