DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

GOTTSCHALK GOUDIMEL 205
William Tucker. He is called 'a base from
Canterbury, Master of Arts. ' He subsequently
became a minor canon of Canterbury, vicar of
Littlebourn, chaplain to the King, Sub-dean
of St. Paul's and Prebendar}' of Lincoln. He died
July 17, 1733. He ^^as one of the most famous
singers of his time, on account of the volume
and compass of his bass voice. He ^vas one of
the '
' ministers at the coronations of James II.
and of William and Mary. Hawkins gives
an anecdote explaining the origin of Purcell's
anthem, ' They that go down to the sea in ships,'
a work written to suit Gostling's voice, anil at
his own request, in his History, p. 707 (Novello's
ed.). [See vol. i. pp. 195, 196.] M.
GOTTSCHALK, Louis Moreau, IjornatNew
Orleans, May 8, 1829, of an English father.
Doctor of Science at Cambridge, Mass., and a
French mother, daughter of Count Antoine de
Brusle, colonel of a cavalry regiment ami governor
of St. Domingo at the time of the insurrection.
His family being in easy circumstances,
young Gottschalk studied the piano as an amusement
; at tlie age of twelve, liaving already
gained much applause as a performer, he obtained
piermission to go to France in order to perfect
himself In Paris his first master was Charles
Halle ; he afterwards studied with Camille
Stamaty, and for composition with Maleden,
who was Saint-Saens's first master. While he
was in Europe his family sustained heavy pecuniary
losses, and he at once thought of turning
his talents to account. He was not content
with merely pla3'ing in drawing-rooms, but
gave concerts, by which his name as a composer
and pianist was quickly established. He also
made a professional tour in the Frencli provinces.
Savoy, Switzerland, and Spain, in which last
country he had an enormous success (1852).
On his return from his travels he was recalled
by his father to New Orleans. He then began
his first tour through America, p)laying his piano
compositions and conducting his orchestral works
at monster festivals ; a symphony entitled ' La
Nuit des Tropiques, ' a triumphal cantata, an
overture, fragments of an unpublislied opera,
etc.. were heard in this way. [His two operas,
' Charles IX. ' and ' Isaura de Salerno, ' were never
performed ; besides the symphony just mentioned,
his orchestral w^orks include a second,
called 'Montevideo,' a grand march dedicated
to the Emperor of Brazil, ' Escenas campestres
cubanas, ' and 'Gran Tarantella.' Baker's Biog.
Did.^ His success was so great that an American
speculator, j\Iax Strakosch, since famous
for having brought out Mme. Patti, engaged
him to make an enormous tour through the
States. From this period Gottschalk's career
was one of incessant and successful travel. He
died suddenly at Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 18, 1869,
at the very tinre wlien, tired of his wandering
life, he was planning a quiet retreat at Paris.
For some time he had been weakened by fever
and fatigue, and at one of his concerts, as if
seized by a fatal presentiment, he \Aas unaltle to
linish his last composition, 'La Morte.' Probably
no artist travelled more than Gottschalk ;
in Spanish America, where he was idolised by
the public, there is scarcely a to^^'n of any importance
where he did not give concerts. He
wrote voluminously for the piano, and his ^\'orks,
popular at the time of their production, have
an originality and a local colour which were
nuich enhanced by the extraordinary charm,
jiassion, and melanchol}^ of his playing. He
began to compose at the age of sixteen, and
his ' Bananier,' at one time famous in both
hemispheres, dates from this time. Few of
his pieces exceptt a Tarantella for piano and
orchestra, often played liy Plante, have lived
to the present day, and even most of their titles
are forgotten. Gottschalk himself is only remembered
as an exceptionally gifted virtuoso,
whose successes were considerable, birt who was
not a great artist in the highest sense of the
term, since he was never connected with the
classical school, and Iris compositions owe their
worth entirely to the charm, freshness, and
variety of his playing. A. .i.
GOTTSCHED, Juhann Christoph, born
Feb. 2, 1700. at Juditiienkirch near Kbnigsberg,
died at Leipzig, Dec. 12, 1766, deserves mention
in this place because of his attitude to opera
generally and to Italian opera in particidar.
His career as a writer, and as professor in the
Leipzig University, lay apart from music, but
that he took a great interest in music is proved
by the fact that his house was a centre of
musical activity in the lifetime of Bach, whose
pupil, Krebs, was the teacher of Fran Gottsched,
a lady of remarkable literary attainments, and
an ardent amateur of music. The professor
used his great infiuence on behalf of German
opera, and comjiiled a kind of preparatory
catalogue of German [ilays printed between
1450 and 1750, w'ith and without music, under
the title of Nothiger Vorraih zur Gcschichte
der deutscjirn dramatisrhen DiclUkunst, etc.
(Leipzig, 1758 ; with a continuation published
1765). It seems fairly certain that Gottsched's
weekly publication. Die vcrniinfligen Tadlcrin-
nen, was the original model for J. A. Scheibe's
periodical Dcr critischc MiisH-us, in which systematic
attacks were made upon the ridiculous
customs of Italian opera as then presented.
Whether based upon the opinions held by
Gottsched or not, this work of Scheibe's had
wide influence in banishing Italian opera from
Germany, and in establishing German opera in
its stead. (See Stheibe.) (Quellen-Leiikon ;
Spitta's Bach, Engl, transl. iii. 241, 250 ; Sam-
melbiindc of the Int. Mus. Gcs. Jhrg. ii. pp.
654 H'.) M.
GOUDIMEL, CL.ArDE (fl. 1549-1572), was
born in Besant^on. He had probably moved
to Paris by 1549, in which year he makes his