Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born in New Orleans in 1829, to a French mother and English father. He grew up surrounded by the rhythms and sounds of Caribbean and African music brought over by the many immigrants. As an adult, Gottschalk visited South America and the West Indies, adding these sounds to his musical repertoire. A brilliant pianist, especially at improvisation, he grew into a true “pan-American” composer.
Gottschalk’s Musical Style
It was Gottschalk who first combined African and Latino rhythms with classical European style and structure, writing for a wide range of musical styles: African, Cuban, Spanish and Creole. Gottschalk wrote many pieces of considerable length but his compositional approach was one of uncomplicated chord patterns which are greatly elaborated on. Gottschalk was an expert improviser, and although his pieces follow simpler chord patterns, they are not technically easy to play. They are simply geared towards on-the-spot improvisations.
Why isn’t Gottschalk More Well-Known?
There are a couple of reasons: partly because as an American of mixed parentage, Gottschalk couldn’t be labeled like Beethoven or Schubert as a “German” or “Austrian composer,” and partly because Gottschalk’s music had a fairly simple structure, overlaid with ample ornamentation. Although he certainly wasn’t lacking in compositional skill, Gottschalk preferred to write pieces which lent themselves to spontaneous improvisation.
Some Works of Gottschalk’s
Gottschalk’s Louisiana Quartet, whose first piece which made him famous in Europe, consists of four works: Bamboula, La Savane, Le Bananier and Le Mancenillier All are based on folk-songs interwoven with African rhythms.
- Bamboula− subtitled “danse de negres,” this was Gottschalk’s masterwork and was met with stunning success in Europe. One can hear the African bamboula drums echoed in the d-flat octaves in the bass. The melody of Bamboula is based on a Creole song the potato grillers along the streets of New Orleans used to sing: “Once that ‘tater’s cooked, don’t you eat it up.”
- La Savane − the second piece of the Louisiana quartet has a theme and several variations based on a song from the West Indies, which sounds like Skip to My Lou. Gottschalk slows the tempo and changes the key to minor, making the dance into a rather dark rendition of the folk song.
- Le Bananier – this piece is a little repetitious and dull, not having as many improvisational variations as its counterparts. The end proves more interesting, although the left hand, which takes the melody, does little else.
- Le Mancenillier − although written about two years after the other three, some people include it in the quartet because it is also based on Creole melodies. Le Mancenillier is the name of a tree which grows in the tropics and bears poisonous fruits. It’s also the name of a poem, essentially a love story, by Charles-Hubert Millevoye, in which the mancenllier tree plays a main part.
Although Gottschalk began the movement of American music, he was unable to make it stay popular, perhaps because Gottschalk was a salesman of his day. “It is only mediocrity that pays . . . and, as I must live, I must be willing to please others, not myself.”1 Gottschalk left the popularization of American music to Gershwin, Joplin, Copland and the litany of American composers we have today.
1 Hensel, Octavia. Life and Letters of Louis Moreau Gottschalk. P.26
SOURCES:
1. Doyle, John Godfrey. Louis Moreau Gottschalk: A Biographical Study and Catalogue of Works.
2. Perone, James E. Louis Moreau Gottschalk: A Bio-Bibliography.
3. Louis Moreau-Gottschalk online
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