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Jan Gerard Palm (June 2, 1831 – December 13, 1906) was a Curaçaoan composer.^[1][2]

Born in Curaçao, Palm had directed several music ensembles by a relatively young age. In 1859, he was appointed as the music director of the Citizen's Guard Orchestra in Curaçao. Palm played several musical instruments such as piano, organ, lute, clarinet, flute, and mandolin. As an organist, Palm played for many years in the Jewish synagogues, Emanu-El and Mikvé Israel; the Protestant Fort Amsterdam Church;^[3] and the Lodge Igualdad in Curaçao. He was also a regular contributor to Notas y Letras (Notes and Letters), a periodical which was issued in Curaçao between 1886 and 1888, with numerous subscribers throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.^[1][2]

Palm died at the age of 75 on December 13, 1906. His descendants include the musicians and composers Rudolph Palm (1880–1950), John Palm (1885–1925), Toni Palm (1885–1963), Jacobo Palm (1887–1982), Albert Palm (1903–1958), Edgar Palm (1905–1998), and Robert Rojer (1939).^[1][2]

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Palm was a prolific and versatile composer whose works reflected his deep connection to Curaçao's cultural and musical traditions. His compositions encompassed various genres, including:

• Dance Music: Palm wrote numerous pieces for solo piano, violin-piano duets, and other chamber arrangements.
• Orchestral Works: His larger compositions, such as fantasies and serenades, showcased his ability to write for orchestras.
• Religious Music: Palm composed pieces for synagogue services, Protestant church ceremonies, and Masonic lodge events, underscoring his contributions to both sacred and secular music.

Notable forms in his repertoire included waltzes, mazurkas, danzas, tumbas, polkas, marches, fantasies, serenades, and galops. His waltzes and mazurkas are characterized by harmonic richness, while his danzas are known for their complex Creole rhythms. Palm also became the first composer to write music for tumbas, a native musical form of Curaçao.

Palm's polkas and marches reflect his lively style, and his bold use of unconventional harmonies distinguished him as an innovative composer. Notably, in the prudish 19th century, he was one of the few to compose erotic tumbas, which added a distinctive element to his oeuvre.^[4]

• Jeroen van der Wel (violin) and Bas van Bommel (piano), play Palm's Fantasía Zaira on YouTube
• Jeroen van der Wel (violin) and Bas van Bommel (piano) play Palm's Serenada nr. 2 on YouTube

• Halman, Johannes and Robert Rojer (2008). Jan Gerard Palm: Life and Work of a Musical Patriarch in Curacao (In Dutch language). Leiden: KITLV.
• Halman, Johannes and Robert Rojer (2008). Jan Gerard Palm Music scores: Waltzes, Mazurkas, Danzas, Tumbas, Polkas, Marches, Fantasies, Serenades, a Galop and Music Composed for Services in the Synagogue and the Lodge. Amsterdam: Broekmans & Van Poppel.
• Palm, Edgar (1978). Muziek en musici van de Nederlandse Antillen. Curacao: E. Palm.
• Boskaljon, Rudolph (1958). Honderd jaar muziekleven op Curacao. Anjerpublicaties 3. Assen: Uitg. in samenwerking met het Prins Bernhard fonds Nederlandse Antillen door Van Gorcum.