Hyperion Records

This is a paraphrase of ‘Ouviram do Ypiranga as margens placidas’, the Brazilian national anthem composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva (1795–1865). It is a late work, composed on Gottschalk’s arrival in Rio de Janeiro in May 1869 after his triumphal procession down the West Coast of South America. He was befriended and open-handedly patronized by the Emperor Dom Pedro II and this dazzling display of pianistic fireworks was probably given its first performance at the Emperor’s court in July 1869.

The work is a scintillating series of variations on da Silva’s beguiling theme with some passages of punishing left-hand leaps and bravura octave work, especially in the coda. Here, and in several other places, Gottschalk offers an ‘easier’ alternative; Philip Martin bravely opts for the more effective bars marked ‘Comme l’auteur le joue’, as did Guiomar Novaës in her pioneering recording of the work for Victor in 1927.

It is a curious coincidence that Gottschalk died on the day of the fourth anniversary of the death of the Brazilian anthem’s composer.

from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 1997