Gottschalk - Lecuona

Ernesto Lecuona and Louis Moreau Gottschalk are two composers who played an important role in developing a Cuban national classical style and sound through their piano compositions. Through an extensive evaluation of Lecuona and Gottschalk’s piano works, it became evident that Gottschalk’s compositional styles and techniques were apparent in many of Lecuona’s compositions, such as Gottschalk’s Souvenirs d’Andalousie and Lecuona’s Suite Espagñol, Gottschalk’s La Jota Aragonesa and Lecuona’s Aragonesa, and Gottschalk’s Souvenir de la Havane and Lecuona’s Danzas Afro-Cubanas. In the 1930’s Lecuona was coined the nickname, the “Cuban Gershwin,” due to his connection with American pianist and composer, George Gershwin. If traced back further, however, before the “Cuban Gershwin” there was the “Cuban Gottschalk,” as evident in how Lecuona developed many of the traditional Cuban dance forms that Gottschalk established during his residency in Cuba. Although Gottschalk and Lecuona never met (as Gottschalk died 27 years prior to Lecuona) both composers changed the trajectory of Cuban classical piano music in 19th and 20th century Cuba.