Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–69) is still remembered as one of the most interesting early American composers, a composer whose work is still performed and enjoyed. This collection of Gottschalk's major piano music shows the wide range of his talent from the "wild, languishing" derivations on African American and Creole folk melodies to his elegant and moving concert and salon compositions.
Included are such pieces as "Bamboula, Danse de Négres," "The Banjo, Grotesque Fantasie, Mexican Sketch," "La Savane, Ballade Créole," "Manchega, Etude de Concert," "La Gallina, Danse Cubaine," "Souvenir de Porto Rico, Marche des Gibaros," "Sixiéme Ballade," "The Dying Poet, Meditation," "The Last Hope, Religious Meditation," "Ses Yeux, Polka de Concert," and 16 other pieces.
This book has been especially designed as a playing edition — the noteheads are large and easily readable at the piano, and the margins and spaces between staves are adequate for written notes, fingerings, and turnovers. It is also most useful for analysis.