Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-69), American composer and pianist, whose use of the rhythms and melodic styles of Caribbean and Creole folk music long antedated their use by other composers. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Gottschalk received a musical education in Paris and toured as a pianist in Europe. His father's death in 1854 forced him to support his family, and he began concertizing on an exhausting schedule interrupted by more relaxed periods in the Caribbean (1856-62) and Latin America (1865-69). During his travels, he became the first American pianist to attain international fame as a virtuoso. Monetary need also prompted him to compose a number of sentimental, highly marketable piano pieces, such as the enormously popular “The Dying Poet” and “The Last Hope.” The most significant among his more than 100 compositions, however, are those influenced by black, Latin, and Creole folk music, such as the piano pieces “Banjo” and “La Bamboula” (the name of a dance). In addition to piano music, his works include the symphonic poems La nuit des tropiques (Night in the Tropics) and Montevideo, the Gran tarantella, for orchestra, and several cantatas. His diary was posthumously published as Notes of a Pianist (1881).