Souvenir De La Havane

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) was a virtuoso pianist and composer. His overall style can be considered a precursor to ragtime, and he traveled extensively concretizing throughout Europe and South America. It is said his travels kept him one step ahead of jealous husbands.

Souvenirs de la Havanne (0p. 39) is an elaborate, virtuosic contradanza for piano utilizing a Creole version of a “three-hand” style. There is a moody introduction followed my a highly syncopated major section that is notable for the way Gottschalk’s characteristic “perfume” of nostalgia emerges in the midst of all the exuberance.