Souvenir de Porto Rico

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Souvenir de Porto Rico (Marche de Gibaros) Op. 31, D. 147 is a musical composition by Louis Moreau Gottschalk for solo piano in 1857, during a vacation in Puerto Rico. It is based on the folk song Si me dan pasteles, les dénmoles calientes, performed by the local peasants known as Jibaros[1]. The piece makes free use of Latin and Afro-American melodies and rhythms almost fifty years before early ragtime and jazz would popularize its use[2].

Contents

[edit] Composition History

Souvenirs de Porto Rico was written in the fall of 1857 at a sugar plantation just outside the village of Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. At the time, Gottschalk was on vacation with singer Adelina Patti and her father. Gottschalk would decide not to leave Puerto Rico, but instead decided to remain there for what would become another five years. During this period, he composed a number of additional songs that took after the local musical styles.

Gottschalk had this to say about the setting where he composed Souvenir de Porto Rico: "[I was] perched upon the edge of a crater, [and] my cabin overlooked the whole country. Every evening I moved my piano out upon the terrace, and played for myself alone, everything that the scene opened up before me inspired. It was there that I composed 'Marche des Gibaros.'"[3]

[edit] Form

The piece consists of a repetition of two specific themes. The first "A" theme, borrowed from a Puerto Rican folk song, is introduced piano or softly. The second "B" theme, marked maliconico (melancholy) in the score, provides contrast by switching to a higher register and a major mode [1]. Both themes are accompanied by a traditional march rhythm, the pattern being a simple long, long, short, short, long. Gottschalk then proceeds to repeat the two themes in seven following variations. Each variation is louder and more rhythmically complex than the previous until the fifth variation. At this point, the piece reaches its climax, and the following variations return to a softer and less dense variation of the two themes.

In his variations of the A theme, Gottschalk makes use of four Afro-Caribbean rhythms he learned during his time in the West Indies[1]. These rhythms consist of a tresillo, a pattern of three unequal notes, two cinquillos, patterns of five unequal notes, and the habanera, a dance rhythm he had heard in Havana. Additionally, he varies both themes with examples of typical European virtuoso style. The combination of these two styles creates a piece with incredible rhythmic complexity. The syncopation of Gottschalk's Latin rhythms coupled with the furious virtuosic lines of his European background come together to create a sound unprecedented at the time [2].

[edit] References

  • Jackson, Richard, Piano Music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Dover Publication Inc. 1973

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ a b c Burkholder, J. Peter (2006). Norton Anthology of Western Music. 
  2. ^ a b Teachout, Terry, Our Gottschalk, Commentary Magazine, 2008 [1]
  3. ^ "Souvenir de Porto Rico, marche des gibaros for piano, Op. 31, D. 147 (RO 250)." Classical Work Reviews. All Media Guide, 2006. Answers.com 14 Feb. 2008. [2]

[edit] External links