The Legacy of Gottshalk ConcertGottschalk with Pianist Frank French, RPT

Friday, February 27
8:00 pm

Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist and composer born in New Orleans in 1829, was successful in building bridges between romantic and folk music in his numerous compositions. He traveled and concertized throughout the United States and Latin America after his return to America in 1853. In his music we hear echoes of the American songs of Stephen Foster, the Habanera of Cuba, the Danza of Puerto Rico and a general panoramic sense of the larger-than-life possibilities of the new musical frontier. This is the earliest highly-stylized, lyric link we can find to American and Pan-American music and we see the influences emerging later in the Ragtime and Jazz of the early 20th century. What has been called the Latin Tinge, the swing and lilt of popular music we have always known is present as early as the mid-19th century in Gottschalk's thoughtfully-constructed piano works.

Frank French, who has made this music known to audiences throughout the world as pianist and composer, successfully connects the dots between Gottschalk's music and that of composers of the United States, Cuba and Brazil including his own compositions following the Legacy of Gottschalk.