The French Piano School's Pedagogical Influence on Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Piano Etudes: A Narrative Inquiry

While many of Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s compositions for piano are highly regarded and figure prominently in recordings and recitals, pianists tend to overlook the composer’s etudes. The purpose of this study was to examine these neglected pieces and evaluate their contribution to the piano etude literature. A secondary focus was exploring the nature of Gottschalk’s lessons with Camille-Marie Stamaty in the French school of piano and comparing their traditional master-apprentice relationship with today’s teacher-student dynamic. This study employed a qualitative narrative inquiry research model, which updates the historical biography with renewed storytelling. To illustrate the importance of Gottschalk’s etudes, this researcher-pianist studied five of the eight etudes with a scholarly piano instructor who also contributed to the narrative inquiry. The project culminated with the researcher’s posted video performances of the etudes. Findings concluded that Gottschalk’s piano training in Paris and his distinctively American compositional voice combined to create notable study and performance pieces that deserve more teacher consideration when assigning literature. Moreover, the results affirmed Gottschalk as a pioneering American music figure who set the model for future American music students to train in Europe. Further, this project could encourage additional research using narrative inquiry, such as comparing Gottschalk’s ballades to those of Frédéric Chopin, contrasting the careers of Gottschalk and Camille Saint-Saëns, and profiling Gottschalk’s friendship and mentorship with Hector Berlioz.