Gottschalk, Souvenirs d’Andalousie

During his lifetime, Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) was acknowledged as the preeminent American piano virtuoso and composer of music for piano. Born in New Orleans to a Jewish father and Creole mother, he absorbed numerous musical influences during his upbringing.

He went to Paris at age 13 to seek admission to the Paris Conservatory, but was rejected based on his nationality. Nevertheless, he found his way into the prominent musical circles of Paris and gained the attention of Chopin and Liszt. Chopin predicted that he would become “the king of pianists.” After Gottschalk’s debut in 1849 at age 20 and the premiere of his Bamboula and La savane he became a sensation as the first authentic musician of the New World.

His success spread with tours in Switzerland and Spain. He enjoyed the patronage of Queen Isabella II and composed works in the Spanish style, including the Souvernirs d’Andalousie in 1851. He would compose other character pieces called souvenirs based on local styles: Souvernir des Ardennes, Souvenir de Porto Rico, Souvenir de la Havane, Souvenir de Cuba, and Souvenir de Lima.

He returned to the United States in 1853. He traveled to the Caribbean and developed a strong interest in the music of that region, producing compositions labeled as his “Antilles period” from 1857-1861. He left the U.S. for South American in 1865. He died of Yellow Fever in Rio de Janeiro in 1869.