Bamboula!: The Life and Times of Louis Moreau Gottschalk

I got a copy of Bamboula after getting to know some of the music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk. This is arguably among the best-researched biographies I have read but it also is a bit dry at times. This is because there is so much information packed into each page of the book that it turns into an itinerary rather than a biography. S. Frederick Starr begins his book at the send, literally, with Gottschalk's death. He proceeds with excellent chapters on Gottschalk's family origins and the musical world of New Orleans. I had not known that America was as anywhere as cultured as New Orleans was; and Mr. Starr explains how the musical world he was born into affected his own music making. The book follows Gottschalk as a prodigy in Paris, his European travels as a virtuoso pianist and his triumphant return to New Orleans as a young man only to find disappointment as he played in such cultural bastions as Boston. Gottschalk was a traveler and he ceaselessly journeyed during his short life to much acclaim and adoration. Financially, he was challenged by having to provide for his family on the death of his father, his own bad judgment and the need to rely on managers. Perhaps one of the more eye-opening chapters was the numbing performance schedule he kept during the Civil War when he traveled from one engagement to another mostly sleeping on trains and having to endure the extreme discomfort of the trains themselves and the people that were packed into them. Reading Mr. Starr's book has led me to listen to more of Gottschalk's music and wish that more of his music survived. This is an important contribution to the understanding of America's first true composer and as such is a great achievement. As I said, the text could use a bit of spicing up here and there but if you want to know about Gottschalk look no further.

Starr's research as other reviewers have mentioned was done well. Starr gives fine historical background to the many places Gottschalk lived. Details of the composer's life also are explained in specifics. My fault with this work-from a pianist point of view, is the author gives no insight to how Gottschalk became one of the five greatest pianists of the 19th century, in same ranks with Chopin, Listz, Thalberg. Starr makes no effort to show how Gottschalk practiced, and how he could keep up his incredible technique stills while traveling so much. He descibes Gottschalk's early training in Paris, but after that barely mentions how Gottschalk took his piano skills to the highest in world. Another problem I had is the author often went into little depth on how Gottschalk composed. Some of his great works are given a passing sentence and left at that, with little, and often no musical analysis of any piece. In fact, one won't find a musical staff in the whole book. One of his finest little caprices "Suis Moi" ("Follow Me"), isn't even listed in the book. I understand the composer wrote over 100 pieces, depth cannot be given to too many, but essentially there was none of this for any piece-say for except a couple. Some of this might stem from the biographer himself not being a pianist, and not a composer (at least one of any distinction). Perhaps Starr lacked the neccessary insight for more musical opinions, or perhaps too much of Gottschalk's life is still relatively unknown. I'll perhaps give a pass to author on the latter point, and give book 4 stars because it is the best biography on him yet written.

If you've listened to just ONE Gottschalk composition, then you're ready to travel to the 19th century Louisana Bayou and follow young Louis Moreau to Europe and South America. This book is a detailed and engaging look at one of the world's most underrated composers and performers; one who undertood the importance of getting into communication with the audience. [email protected]

One doesn't have to read far into S. Frederic Starr's biography of Louis Moreau Gottschalk to learn three things. First, that the author pursued more leads and sifted through more material than anyone else thus far in the search for information about this musical legend. Second, that Mr. Starr just adores Gottschalk's music and wishes you would, too. And third, that it's a darn shame there aren't more editors in the publishing business these days. Overall an illuminating and enjoyable book, Bamboula! covers more details about Gottschalk's concert programs and love for his mother than is perhaps necessary, but one can only admire the biographer's persistance in researching and writing this book. His descriptions of the musical institutions and leaders of the middle of the last century, particularly, reveal much about our musical tastes today. The material might perhaps have been conveyed more effectively with fewer adjectives, but that's a stylistic quibble. A major flaw, though, is the lack of a discography. Mr. Starr refers to several compositions of Gottschalk's, noting that certain performances of them are inadequate. But how is the reader to judge - or to enjoy any of this marvelous music - if there is no guide to what is available on recordings? Readers of this type of semi-scholarly book are more likely to buy a CD than to order a score and analyze it, aren't they? Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about music and culture in 19th-century America.