Bamboula Danse de Negres. [Op. 2]. [Piano solo]

New York: William Hall & Son, 239 Broadway, 1849. Folio. Disbound. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-17, [i] (blank) pp. Lithographed, with "Lith of Sarony & Major, N. Y." to lower inner corner of title.

With fine three-quarter-length lithographic portrait of the composer to title.

Very slightly worn and browned; some minor showthrough. First American edition, later issue. Doyle-13, p. 264. Offergeld 20.

Dedicated to Queen Isabella II of Spain, " 'Bamboula' was the composer's first great success. ... The main theme of 'Bamboula' is based on the folksong 'Quan patate la cuite,' well known in New Orleans, and perhaps brought there by West Indian slaves." Doyle p. 265.

Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist. "His considerable reputation as a composer and performer of virtuoso piano music did not long survive his death, but a renewed interest in his life and works began in the 1930s, and he is now generally acknowledged as one of the most significant 19th-century American musicians, particularly for his nationalistic and exotic compositions." Irving Lowens, revised by Frederick Starr and Laura Moore Pruett in Grove Music Online.