''La Savane'' (The Savannah), Op. 3, is a composition in the form of a

ballade Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

written for piano in 1846 by the American composer

Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Life and car ...

. With the subtitle ''Ballade Créole,'' it was first published in 1849 by Gottschalk's publisher 'Escudiers' and again in 1850 by Editions Schott, with a dedication to

Maria II of Portugal , image = Queen Maria II by John Simpson.jpg , caption = Portrait by John Simpson, 1835 , succession = Queen of Portugal , reign = , predecessor = Pedro IV , successor = Miguel I , reg-type = Regents , regent ...

on the composer's assumption that a trip from

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

during his concert tour in the spring of that year would be likely to happen.

Musical analysis

''La Savane'' is a composition supposedly inspired by the local story that the skeletons of runaway slaves that had perished in the swamps around the city of New Orleans had in fact turned into oaks. It has an introductory melody which sounds pretty much like the folk tune ''Skip to My Lou,'' but that was actually based on portions of the Creole Louisiana song ''Lolotte'' or ''Pov'piti Lolotte.'' Written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

E-flat minor E-flat minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature consists of six flats. Its relative key is G-flat major (or enharmonically F-sharp major) and its parallel key is E-flat major. ...

, it has 146 bars and an 84 bpm

Andante Andante may refer to: Arts * Andante (tempo), a moderately slow musical tempo * Andante (manga), ''Andante'' (manga), a shōjo manga by Miho Obana * Andante (song), "Andante" (song), a song by Hitomi Yaida * "Andante, Andante", a 1980 song by A ...

tempo, mood marked as ''con malinconia.''

References

External links

* Compositions for solo piano 1846 compositions Compositions by Louis Moreau Gottschalk Piano compositions by American composers Piano compositions in the Romantic era Compositions in E-flat minor Music with dedications {{classical-composition-stub