Where this was said
Gottschalk: The Piano Prodigy Who Died Playing 'Death'
At 45:20 · chapter starts 44:20
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.
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'.
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.
