Podbit · The Rest Is History
Louis Moreau Gottschalk — half-Jewish, half-Creole son of New Orleans — was refused an audition at the Paris Conservatoire because 'America is a country of steam engines'. He went on to compose the Grand Triumphal Fantasy on the Brazilian Anthem, then died in Rio from a quinine overdose while performing a piece called 'Death'.
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The one creative intervention in the anthem's long wordless era comes from an unlikely source: Louis Moreau Gottschalk, a child piano prodigy from New Orleans with a Jewish-immigrant father and a Creole mother from Santo Domingo. Refused an audition at the Paris Conservatoire at age 13 on the grounds that 'America is a country of steam engines', Gottschalk went on to tour the Americas giving piano recitals. He arrived in Rio in summer 1869 as a celebrity, was lionised by Dom Pedro II, and composed two works inspired by the Brazilian anthem: a march dedicated to the Emperor and the Grand Triumphal Fantasy on the Brazilian National Anthem, dedicated to his daughter Isabel. [1] — Dominic Sandbrook "Louis Moreau Gottschalk — half-Jewish, half-Creole son of New Orleans — was refused an audition at the Paris Conservatoire because 'America…" 44:40 The Fantasy became a hit, remained in circulation through the 20th century, and was even appropriated by the left-wing Democratic Labour Party for its TV ads in the 1980s. Gottschalk's end was spectacular: on 24 November 1869, performing at the Teatro Lirico Fluminense, he had just finished his own piece — which happened to be called Morte, 'Death' — when he collapsed. He had contracted yellow fever, but was ultimately killed not by the disease but by an overdose of quinine taken to treat it.
American pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk collapsed in Rio in November 1869 while performing a piece called 'Death', contracted yellow fever, but ultimately died from an overdose of quinine taken to treat it.
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Oliver North traveled to Iran under the alias 'William P. Goode' with a fake passport. CIA Director William Casey allegedly gave him cyanide pills so he could kill himself rather than be tortured if captured. He returned safely and the deal moved forward.
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