GOTTSCHALK: Piano Music

Licad, Cecile

8.559145

Gottschalk’s piano miniatures, of which there are more than one hundred, defy comparison with the works of other nineteenth-century composers. The dates of composition of the works heard here are dispersed throughout the first five of his six periods of composition, ranging from 1846, the Parisian period, up to 1863, the American period. Cynics of his day complained that he performed only his own music, with its earthy banjo and Caribbean strains. Theodore Hagen of The Review and the World, politely suggested that Gottschalk, given his "natural capacity for technics" should perform some of the simpler classics of Bach and Clementi in addition to certain minor compositions of Chopin and Weber. By way of contrast, Gottschalk’s piano works exhibit a Romantic keyboard technique much admired by Chopin and an appealing New World sense of adventure alongside the vernacular melodies of New Orleans streets, South American dance halls and North American music halls.

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Naxos

03-03-2003

636943914526