Louis Moreau Gottschalk - The Banjo

Описание: Louis Moreau Gottschalk - The Banjo
Fausto Bongelli, piano
Playlist:
   • Virtuosity Piano  
   • AMERICAN piano music  
   • PIANO LEFT HAND  
The Banjo, Op. 15, is a composition for piano by the American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Composed in 1853, it is one of Gottschalk's best-known works. The piece features captivating imitations of mid-nineteenth-century African-American banjo techniques and includes demonstrations of techniques, such as up-picking and strumming, which are not found in other sources from the period.During the summer of 1853, Gottschalk undertook several compositions; among them was the first version of The Banjo. After taking the piece through a major overhaul, Gottschalk submitted it for publication in 1854 as his Opus 15.
The accuracy of Gottschalk's banjo imitations in the piece makes it a unique record of the sound of pre-Civil War African-American banjo playing, and it contains evidence of techniques not found in other sources, including combinations of "downstroking" and "up-picking" found in West African plucked lute performance. This unusual accuracy has enabled at least one modern banjo player to recreate the banjo music that Gottschalk transcribed, which invited speculation that Gottschalk may have taken his banjo imitations from actual transcription of an unnamed African-American banjo player. Unlike most banjo music in the popular minstrel shows of the time that more closely followed the melody of dance music, most of "The Banjo" consists of variations of a repeating phrase as is done by musicians in the Senegambia region in West Africa, the source for the banjo's ancestors.