Afro-Caribbean influences on classical music begin
in the mid-1800s in Puerto Rico. The main reason for this development
is the arrival of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, a native of New Orleans,
who lived in Puerto Rico for three years in the mid-1850s. Gottschalk
was exposed from an early age to the rich Caribbean and Creole cultures
that thrived in the cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic city of his birth.
Both his maternal grandmother Buslé and his nurse Sally were
born in Saint Domingue (Haiti). It is said they sang to him the
native tunes that he soon learned in the piano and that later appeared
in his original compositions. In fact, he made his musical debut
at age eleven playing a Latin dance tune at the Hotel St. Charles
(Fernández 17). He went on to study music in Spain and France,
where his considerable talents and charismatic personality earned
him the attention and friendship of major European composers like
Manuel de Falla, Georges Bizet, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel.
While living in Puerto Rico, Gottschalk composed “Souvenir
de Porto Rico” (1857) among other works using the danza form.
More importantly, Gottschalk proved to the Puerto Rican audience,
who usually looked to Europe for inspirations, that popular themes
could also be treated with refinement and good taste. Gottschalk’s
position encouraged the career of young pianist Manuel G. Tavárez,
who went on to study in Paris and upon his return home gave final
shape to the Puerto Rican danza. Danza was discussed previously
in Unit 1, Module 2.
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Answer the questions below:
1. List the Afro-Caribbean elements of “Souvenir de Porto
Rico”.
2. Discuss how Gottschalk incorporates African and Afro-Caribbean
traditions in this composition.
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