Hyperion Records

The third of the three pieces composed in Matouba in 1859, the Hurrah Galop is not a schottische but a lively and maddeningly catchy redoublé (quick step). It has more than a little in common with the composer’s own Tournament Galop (1854; CD 3) apart from sharing the same key (E flat) and a middle (grandioso) section in A flat. This is another piece composed by ‘Seven Octaves’, but Gottschalk’s cover is blown by his publisher printing the name ‘L.M.Gottschalk’ beneath it! Most strikingly, the piece is dedicated to General Ulysses S Grant (‘a small man, of ordinary appearance’, Gottschalk described him, ‘slender, modest’). Grant’s knowledge of music is enshrined in the bon mot he uttered to Lincoln when the President commented favourably on a military band conducted by George Ives (the father of Charles). ‘I only know two tunes’, said Grant. ‘One of them is “Yankee Doodle” and the other isn’t.’

from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 2004