Holy Ghost, with Light Divine
I originally intended to include a Robert Schumann hymn
in this classical collection, but when I looked up the
only one in Great Hymns of the Faith, I found out it
was only eight measures long. That was far too short
to give it its own arrangement, so I instead arranged
this one, the only one in that hymnal by another
classical composer—Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
Not a lot of people have heard of Louis Moreau
Gottschalk, which is unfortunate, because h...(+)
Holy Ghost, with Light Divine
I originally intended to include a Robert Schumann hymn
in this classical collection, but when I looked up the
only one in Great Hymns of the Faith, I found out it
was only eight measures long. That was far too short
to give it its own arrangement, so I instead arranged
this one, the only one in that hymnal by another
classical composer—Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
Not a lot of people have heard of Louis Moreau
Gottschalk, which is unfortunate, because he is one of
the greatest American composers of all-time—better
even than Aaron Copeland and Samuel Barber! Born in
New Orleans in 1929, Gottschalk completed his musical
education at the Paris Conservatoire. He was one of
those virtuoso pianists that toured the world in the
1800s, and when he was in Paris, Chopin and Liszt were
both impressed by his playing. If there is any doubt
as to his ability, a look at some of his music will
quickly confirm he was good—he had to be, to be able
to play it! Gottschalk gave several concerts in major
cities around the United States—one of his pieces,
Union, is a virtuoso arrangement of The Star-Spangled
Banner, Hail Columbia!, and Yankee Doodle. Many of his
compositions are for piano—such as one of his most
famous, The Banjo, which seeks to imitate
you-can-guess-which instrument. Like Liszt, he also
wrote orchestral music, and Hershy Kay made a popular
orchestration of his Cakewalk Suite. His music has a
remarkable ability—like Liszt’s—to put a smile on
your face as you listen to it, and it really deserves
to get played more often than it does. As a side note,
I met a relative of Gottschalk a few years ago at
Virginia Tech University—a student named Mason.
He’s followed in his relative’s footsteps, as he
was studying piano at the time, and he’s also
extremely talented. He played The Dying Poet (LMG’s
opus 110) for me, so I can actually say I’ve heard
Gottschalk play Gottschalk—a rare occurrence,
considering the more famous one died before the
recording era.
As far as hymns are concerned, Gottschalk’s certainly
not a name you’ll find much in hymnals. One of his
tunes was used for Holy Ghost with Light Divine. The
words (by Andrew Reed) are a prayer to the Holy Ghost
to do what the Bible says it will do for us—cheer us,
take away our guilt (as God has paid our debt), and
help us to keep the One True God as the object our
worship. The quite, reverie-style tune by Gottschalk
fits the words like a glove, and I think you’ll find
this arrangement very enjoyable—as well as much
easier than most of Gottschalk’s originals.
Enjoy!
Dearest Mr. Zisi, I certainly enjoy Gottschalk's music. Yes, he was a virtuoso talent, clever, sensitive and refreshing. My only disagreement with your article is that I don't think he was better than Barber and Copland. He was, a they were, unique in his own way. All 3 of these American composers need to be appreciated, studied and performed throughout a pianists lifetime. Thank you for your insight on Gottschalk's music.
PARTITION