The Music Conservatory & 19th Century Piano Music

The Music Conservatory & 19th Century Piano Music • There were no conservatories in 1858 when John Knowles Paine left for Berlin • Three of the earliest Oberlin Conservatory (1865) Oberlin, OH New England Conservatory (1867) Boston,MA Cincinnati Conservatory (1867) Cincinnati, OH

The Conservatory • conservatorio - Italian 16th century - training orphans and needy children for duty in courts or municipal bands and choirs • Conservatorio dell’Ospedale della Pieta in Venice (Vivaldi) • Conservatoire de Musique (1795) Paris

Oberlin College Conservatory • The Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865, is the nation's oldest continuously operating conservatory, and the only major music school in the country linked with a preeminent liberal arts college. Since its founding, the Conservatory has continued its proud tradition of "firsts."Tuition: $27,880; Room/Board: $6,830; Activity Fee: $170; Total: $34,880 • 1892 - America's first full-time chair in music history and appreciation • 1921 - Established America's first four-year college degree program in music education • 1958 - Introduced the Suzuki method of string pedagogy to the United States • 1969 - Pioneered a program in electronic music • 1988 - Created the American Soviet Youth Orchestra, an ensemble of 100 young musicians from the U.S. and the former Soviet Union that was the first arts exchange produced jointly by the two countries • 1989 - The Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Laboratory is the first of its kind to be incorporated into a program of vocal instruction in the U.S.

Cincinnati Conservatory • Tuition $16578 • R&B 2556

New England Conservatory • Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory of Music, the only music school in America to be designated a National Historic Landmark, was founded in 1867. • The New England Conservatory of Music presents more than 600 free concerts each year in New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall and throughout New England. The college program instructs more than 775 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world, and has a faculty of 225 artist-teachers and scholars • Tuition: (2001-2002) $21,550 • Room and Board: (2001-2002) $9,400

The National Conservatory • The National Conservatory of Music (1885) • founded by Jeanette Thurber • intended for black children and children of recent immigrants • faculty included: Horatio Parker and Henry T. Finck • students active as composers included Harry T. Burleigh, Will Marion Cook, Edwin Franko Goldman • conservatory was directed by Antonin Dvorak from 1892-1895

Player- Composers • Lowell Mason (1792-1872) • Isaac B. Woodbury (1819-1858) • Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) • Ernest Guiraud (1837-1892)

Manufacture • The piano was invented by the Italian Bartolommeo Cristofori in 1709. • The double-escapement mechanism was introduced by Sebastien Erard in 1821 • Apprenticeship • Pianos were among the earliest instruments made in America • Special materials,equipment and expertise are required • American manufacturers are on the leading edge of modern instrument manufacture • The first piano recital in the world was in London in 1768 • In 1769 John Harris of Boston made the first American piano

The Piano • Boston and Philadelphia were the first centers of piano manufacture • The full cast iron frame was introduced by Alphaeus Babcock in 1830 as was cross stringing. This allowed the strings to fan out over a larger section of the soundboard • John Quincy Adams and his wife, Louisa Catherine, were great devotees of music, and often sang ballads and arias together. Louisa played the White House American-made Babcock (or maybe not) piano, now housed in the Smithsonian Institution. • Perhaps he played a Currier & Co. piano ! • American piano makers were competing with those of Europe • Steinway (1853) won grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1867 • Jonas Chickering (1823) won the gold medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851

The Piano • The piano spanned the styles of the century • The piano was THE instrument of the living room • The great years of the piano in the home were the 1920s • The piano was the instrument of the concert hall • The piano was the instrument of the dance hall and honky-tonk • The piano is sized according to its use: • Concert Grand - 8' 11" and larger • Half Concert Grand - 7'4" • Parlor Grand 6'8" • Drawing Room Grand - 6'4" • Professional Grand - 6' • Living Room Grand - 5'10" • Baby Grand - 5'8" • Upright - 51" and up • Vertical - 36" - 51" • Studio - 44" or taller • Console to 42" • Spinet - 36" to 38"

The Piano • The upright was invented by Hawkins of Philadelphia in 1800 • The Kimball Company of Chicago built the greatest number of pianos by any maker in the world • Changes to the piano in the last century include • Tuning, action, methods of manufacture • An odd development of the piano would be the player piano!

Examples for your listening pleasure • The Baldwin Piano (USA) • “Doo-Dah Variations by Earl WildChesky CD98 • The Steinway Piano (USA) • “Pianoagogo” by William AlbrightCRI CD 674

A Native Born American Pianist and ComposerVirtuoso

Louis Moreau Gottschalk1829 - 1869

Gottschalk and the Piano • Louis Moreau Gottschalkb. New Orleans , May 8, 1829 d. Tijuca, Brazil, December 18, 1869 • Father, Edward, was an English stockbroker; Mother, Almee de Brusle, an aristocratic French Creole, parents from Santo Domingo in the West Indies • First child of a large family • He had a slave nurse named Sally who introduced him to Negro folk music • Playing piano at age 3

Gottschalk and the Piano • Sent to Paris to study (age 11) when his teacher said there was nothing more he could learn from any musician in New Orleans • “I definitely expect that in two years or perhaps less I shall be earning a living on my own.” • Rejected by the Paris Conservatory because he was American (anyone from America was barbarian) and (America was nothing but a country of steam engines), 7 years later he sat as a judge for examinations at the Conservatory! • Studied piano privately • Fellow students were Saint-Saens and Bizet

Gottschalk and the Piano • Chopin attended his first public recital in 1845 • Frédéric Chopin predicted that Gottschalk would soon become one of the foremost pianists of the century • Berlioz became his champion and long-time friend • Gottschalk became known from Madrid to Moscow • Age 22 he became the musical idol of Spain • Returned to America after very successful tours in France, Switzerland and Spain • Became known in America as the “King of Pianists”

Gottschalk and the Piano • 1854 father went bankrupt and both parents died • On his deathbed, Edward blessed Louis in 7 languages • Wandered around the Antilles for 6 years doing nothing but giving concerts wherever he found a piano • Identified with the Union cause • 1862 contract brought him back to the U.S. • Played 1100 recitals in three years • “Arrived half past eight at the hotel, took in a hurry a cup of bad tea, and away to business. One herring for dinner! Nine hours on the train! and, in spite of everything, five hundred persons who have paid that you may give them two hours of poesy, of passion, and of inspiration. I confess to you secretly that they certainly will be cheated this evening.”

Gottschalk and the Piano • Involved in a scandal in San Francisco • A scandal about his relationship with a student at Oakland Female Seminary • “Spirited” aboard a ship (which headed for South America) • Played concerts in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay for 3 years • traveled to Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro. His concerts were successful all across South America and often took the form of “monster concerts” involving up to 650 performers. • Depressed over the poverty, illiteracy and the brutal life he observed, Gottschalk began to write and lecture with great passion • Committed a kind of suicide by overwork and illness in 1869

Gottschalk and the Piano • Died of peritonitis (inflammation of the membrane lining the cavity of the abdomen) on December 1869 at age 40 in Tijuca, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro (where he was regarded as a national hero) • His diaries “Notes of a Pianist” were published by his sister • Thorough knowledge of the classics and European culture • Fluent in French, English, Italian and Spanish • A favorite of royal families • Generous with his time and money

Gottschalk and the Piano • Mobbed by schoolgirls • The first American composer of international reputation • Favorite piano of his later years was the American - made Chickering • Famous as a composer and as a pianist • Called “The American Chopin” • A contemporary of Andrew Jackson and Hector Berlioz

Style • The majority of Gottschalk’s music was composed for piano solo • His music generally falls into three categories: • Folk-tune based ethnic pieces • Virtuoso concert pieces • Salon pieces

Folk-Tune based Ethnic Compositions Versions of folk dances and songs similar to Chopin’s mazurkas and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. Pieces were based on Creole and Spanish dances and some were of West Indian origin.

Bamboula: Danse Des Negres (Op. 2) • 1845 - Age 16 • Pre-dates other works by other composers (Milhaud and Gould) by at least 100 years • Selected as a trial piece for competition by the Paris Conservatory • One of his most popular works • Played it at more than 1200 concerts • Origins in music of slave dances in Congo Square in New Orleans

Le Bananier (Op. 55) • 1846 • Very popular • Often repeated at concerts • Published separately in most major cities in U.S. and Europe • Played on an 1826 Conrad Graf piano Played on a modern piano

El Cocoye • His best essay on Cuban music • Composed in 1953

The Banjo (Op. 15) • Famous piece • Often played at the end of a concert • Sounds like a banjo • Recalls early minstrel tunes • Resembles Stephen Foster’s “Camptown Races”

Virtuoso Concert Pieces Also called “paraphrases”, these are medleys from operas and popular music that was often patriotic.

The Union Popular during the Civil War, The Union includes “The Star-Spangled Banner”, “Hail Columbia”, and “Hail Columbia” and “Yankee Doodle” played at the same time.“The Union” This composition inspired patriotic fervor during the Civil War and was dedicated to General George B. McClellan. Gottschalk also performed it at a memorial service for Lincoln after the assassination.

Gottschalk and Theodore Thomas • Gottschalk invited Thomas to appear with him in 1862 • Thomas invited Gottschalk to appear as composer and performer with him in 1865 • The Union was then performed in a version for piano and orchestra

Gottschalk’s Night in the Tropics • Possibly the first American symphony to be performed in the United States • Probably composed in 1959 on Martinique and Guadeloupe • His attraction to the tropics came from his maternal grandparents - Camille and Josephine Deynaud Brusle who were born and raised in Haiti and immigrated to New Orleans in the 1790s after their families were killed in the slave rebellion

Night in the Tropics • MS acquired by the NY Public Library in 1949 • Performed by the Columbia Symphony in 1955 • Published by Boosey and Hawkes in 1965 • 2-piano setting never published • 2nd movement played at the Eastman Monster Concert

Louis Moreau Gottschalk1829 - 1869 • native of New Orleans • musical training in Paris • spoke English with an accent • hailed as a pianist and composer • American debut 2-11-1853 at Niblo’s Salon • refused an offer from P.T. Barnum • toured for four years • Havana, Central America, and West Indies in 1857 with Adelina Patti (she was 14)

Adelina Patti 1843-1919 • At 19, the diva Adelina Patti was already acclaimed on two continents when she sang “Home, Sweet Home'' at the White House for Abraham and Mary Lincoln in 1862. In mourning for their son, Willie, who had died of typhoid fever, the Lincolns were moved to tears and asked for an encore. • Patti in 1861 • Adelina Patti sings The Last Rose of Summer”

Gottschalk, the Showman • organized concerts and festivals for gigantic groups - Cuba, 1860 • 1861 - Cuba - 40 pianists • 1865 - San Francisco - 10 pianists • last four years of his life in Central and South America • Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay

Gottschalk - the Pianos • Souvenir de Porto Rico • Played on an Erard, 1866 • La Gallina • Played on a John Broadwood, 1850

Salon Pieces Gottschalk liked these the least, but as a popular artist and matinee idol, he had to write, play, and publish them.

The Last Hope (Op. 16) • Composed in 1853 at Santiago de Cuba to soothe the last moments of a Cuban lady • For years thereafter Gottschalk played it every evening in her memory • Unprecedented popularity during Gottschalk’s lifetime • Found in at least 26 different editions at the Library of Congress • 20 years after Gottschalk’s death a Congregational minister, Hubert P. Main, put words to it. The LastHope is now included in many protestant hymnals as the hymn Mercy (or Gottschalk).It remained popular until the 1920s

Mercy (Holy Spirit, Light Devine) • The tune MERCY was written by Louis Moreau Gottschalk • Holy Spirit, light divine, Shine upon this heart of mine, Chase the shades of night away, Turn my darkness into day. Holy Spirit, power divine, Cleanse this guilty heart of mine; Long has sin, without control, Held dominion o'er my soul. Holy Ghost, with joy divine, Cheer this saddened heart of mine, Bid my many woes depart, Heal my wounded, bleeding heart. Holy Spirit, all divine, Dwell within this heart of mine, Cast down every idol throne, Reign supreme, and reign alone.

A Little More Gottschalk • The important compositions of his European Career: • Bamboula, Le Bananier, La Savane, La Mancenillier • The most comprehensive recordings of Gottschalk’s piano music: • 40 Works for the Piano Alan Mandel, pianoVox Box CD3X 3033 • Published music: • Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Piano MusicNew York: Dover Publications, 1973 • to purchase music: • 1-800-753-BACH

The Music Conservatory & 19th Century Piano Music