Gottschalk was one of America's first
important composers. His numerous works
for piano are mostly light. His Marche des
Gibaros from the Souvenir de Porto Rico
transcribed by Karl Hinterbichler is lively and
bright. American born Louis Moreau
Gottschalk (1829-1869) was one of the
great pianist/composers of his day. He
began his career in Europe but spent most
of his life touring from coast to coast in the
US, as well as South America, and the
Caribbean.
He composed more than 100 works which
combine the typical European Romantic
virtuoso style with musical traditions from
South America, the Caribbean, Spain and
sacred and popular songs from the United
States.
Originally for solo piano, Souvenir de Porto
Rico (op. 31), bears the subtitle Marche des
Gibaros, a reference to the peasants of the
island. The simple melody derives from a
Puerto Rican song 'Si me dan pasteles, les
dénmelos calientes,' 'If you give me cakes,
give them to me hot,' sung by strolling
musicians during the Puerto Rican
Christmas season. This simple melody is
then subjected to a series of variations. The
music depicts the sound of strolling
musicians, first heard in the distance,
coming ever closer, rising to a climax and
then fading as the Gibaros march away into
the distance. The syncopated rhythms
strongly suggest its Caribbean origins.
Instrumentation is for 2 Trumpets in Bb
(Trumpet 1 doubles on Piccolo), Horn,
Trombone and Tuba.