Gottschalk was one of America's firstimportant composers. His numerous worksfor piano are mostly light. His Marche desGibaros from the Souvenir de Porto Ricotranscribed by Karl Hinterbichler is lively andbright. American born Louis MoreauGottschalk (1829-1869) was one of thegreat pianist/composers of his day. Hebegan his career in Europe but spent mostof his life touring from coast to coast in theUS, as well as South America, and theCaribbean.

He composed more than 100 works whichcombine the typical European Romanticvirtuoso style with musical traditions fromSouth America, the Caribbean, Spain andsacred and popular songs from the UnitedStates.

Originally for solo piano, Souvenir de PortoRico (op. 31), bears the subtitle Marche desGibaros, a reference to the peasants of theisland. The simple melody derives from aPuerto Rican song 'Si me dan pasteles, lesd�nmelos calientes,' 'If you give me cakes,give them to me hot,' sung by strollingmusicians during the Puerto RicanChristmas season. This simple melody isthen subjected to a series of variations. Themusic depicts the sound of strollingmusicians, first heard in the distance,coming ever closer, rising to a climax andthen fading as the Gibaros march away intothe distance. The syncopated rhythmsstrongly suggest its Caribbean origins.

Instrumentation is for 2 Trumpets in Bb(Trumpet 1 doubles on Piccolo), Horn,Trombone and Tuba.

This song was performed by the Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link; the BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the United Kingdom's contribution. Recorded in 1967, it had Lennon playing harpsichord, Paul McCartney on double bass, George Harrison on violin (an instrument he had never previously played), and Ringo Starr on drums, plus vocals, piano (played by their producer, George Martin), banjo (by Lennon), guitar and orchestral parts.The song has dramatic time changes and some unusual use of harmony. I have presented it here to work well as a small group arrangement.

American Vignettes was composed during 2011 for the Lyric Brass of Pacific Lutheran University. They were looking for a composition to include on a CD of American music and one that would feature each of the musicians. The first movement, ?Barn Dance?, features the first trumpet and after a syncopated, fanfare-style introduction, the movement uses fragments and elaborations of "Old Chisholm Trail" and "Short?nin Bread". For the second movement, I wanted to write a blues and feature the other trumpet player on Flugelhorn. As I was working on the movement, the blues seem very mysterious and lonely, so I titled the movement 4 A.M. Blues. It reflects someone who can?t sleep and is contemplating the deep mysteries of life and feels very alone in the world. Movement 3 is the tuba feature and is called "Spirituals". I use three different spirituals in this movement, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I?ve Seen". "Cotton Needs Picking" and "Every Time I Feel the Spirit." Movement 4 ?Fiesta? is a trombone feature and represents the Southwest. The Southwestern flavor is accomplished through alternating 6/8 and 3/4 and the bright colors of the muted brass playing staccato eighth note rhythms and "ay" sounding motifs. The Horn is featured in the fifth movement ?From Sea to Shining Sea? that starts with a jazz harmony version of ?America the Beautiful? followed by a jazz waltz built from motifs of the song. The last movement is called ?Harlem Jump? and is an up-tempo jive with Be-bop type solos written for each of the musicians. ?

Borodin's String Trio in G minor dates from 1855, one of his early works for 2 Violins and Cello. It is based on the once well-known Russian folk song Chem tebya ya ogorchila (What have I done to hurt you?). The music is about 7 minutes in length in one movement with the lovely bitter-sweet theme and eight variations.

The Trio in G minor was largely forgotten until the mid 20th Century. Justin Chiang's lovely arrangement for Brass Quintet for advanced performers works exceptionally well.

Instrumentation is for 2 Trumpets in C, Horn, Trombone, and Tuba.