Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829 – 1869) was an American
composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso
performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent
most of his working career outside of the United
States. He was the eldest son of a Jewish-English New
Orleans real estate speculator and his French-descended
bride. Gottschalk may have heard the drums at Place
Congo in New Orleans, but his exposure to Creole melody
likely came through his own household; his mother had
grown up in Haiti and fled to Louisiana after that
island's slave uprising. Piano study was undertaken
with Narcisse Lettellier, and at age 11, Gottschalk was
sent to Paris. Denied entrance to the Conservatoire, he
continued with Charles Hallé and Camille Stamaty,
adding composition with Pierre Maleden. His Paris debut
at the Salle Pleyel in 1845 earned praise from Chopin.
By the end of the 1840s, Gottschalk's first works, such
as Bamboula, appeared. These syncopated pieces based on
popular Creole melodies rapidly gained popularity
worldwide. Gottschalk left Paris in 1852 to join his
father in New York, only to encounter stiff competition
from touring foreign artists. With his father's death
in late 1853, Gottschalk inherited support of his
mother and six siblings. In 1855, he signed a contract
with publisher William Hall to issue several pieces,
including The Banjo and The Last Hope. The Last Hope is
a sad and sweetly melancholy piece, and it proved
hugely popular. Gottschalk found himself obliged to
repeat it at every concert, and wrote "even my paternal
love for The Last Hope has succumbed under the terrible
necessity of meeting it at every step." With an
appearance at Dodsworth Hall in December 1855,
Gottschalk finally found his audience. For the first
time he was solvent, and at his mother's death in 1857
Gottschalk was released from his familial obligations.
He embarked on a tour of the Caribbean and didn't
return for five years. When this ended, America was in
the midst of Civil War. Gottschalk supported the north,
touring Union states until 1864. Gottschalk wearied of
the horrors surrounding him, becoming an avid proponent
of education, playing benefit concerts for public
schools and libraries. During a tour to California in
1865, Gottschalk entered into an involvement with a
young woman attending a seminary school in Oakland, and
the press excoriated him. He escaped on a steamer bound
for Panama City. Instead of returning to New York, he
pressed on to Peru, Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina,
staying one step ahead of revolutions, rioting, and
cholera epidemics, but he began to break down under the
strain. Gottschalk contracted malaria in Brazil in
August 1869; still recovering, he was hit in the
abdomen by a sandbag thrown by a student in Săo Paolo.
In a concert at Rio de Janeiro on November 25,
Gottschalk collapsed at the keyboard. He had
appendicitis, which led to peritonitis. On December 18,
1869, Gottschalk died at the age of 40.
His works tended to be light and somewhat exotic in
sound, and usually quite challenging for the performer.
To an extent, this four- to five-minute Berceuse falls
outside the boundaries of all those descriptions. True,
in the sweet dreaminess of its main theme and the
glittering colors of its keyboard writing, it cannot be
described as a composition of great depth. But its
songful lullaby manner and overall beauty elevate it to
the level of something quite moving, something the
listener can return to again and again. The main theme,
played over a gentle running figure, is soothing in its
soaring, lush Romanticism and in its mesmerizing
comfort. When cascades of descending notes enter about
a half-minute into the piece, they add a dreamy,
harp-like effect to the work. The mood of the music
darkens just a bit as it proceeds, but hardly shirks
its fluid, gentle manner. The work ends as sweetly and
as beautifully as it began. This piece was arranged as
a quite lovely song by Gottschalk disciple Lucičn
Lambert in 1898.
Source: AllMusic
(https://www.allmusic.com/artist/louis-moreau-g
ottschalk-mn0001767715/biography).
Although originally composed for Piano, I created this
interpretation of "Berceuse: Cradle Song" (Opus 47) for
Flute & Concert (Pedal) Harp. |
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