I will consider his case first, and say that in this son
of an Italian father and a German mother, born and raised in the city
of Washington, D. C., we have a thoroughly characteristic American, in
whom different heredities mingle in a curious way and give rise to a
certain originality of temperament and style.

While Mr. Sousa, from his earlier career, and probably by force of his
temperament, has naturally taken the position of a popular composer, he
has done so almost entirely in consequence of the inherently popular
character of the music he has turned out, which, for striking rhythm
and melodic piquancy, has taken the ear not alone of the United States
but of the whole world, his marches being widely played in all foreign
countries, where they are received with the liveliest demonstrations of
approval. In fact, very much the same kind of mild excitement that a
_chic_ American girl awakens in a foreign reception, the band music of
Sousa affords to the travel-worn palates of European bandmasters. It
stirs them up and gives them a new sensation. It is a mistake,
therefore, to speak of this artist in terms implying an unwillingness
to classify him among serious composers. He is entitled to a very
honorable place among those who have loved their fellow-men so well
that they have made them feel good.

LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK.

In the year 1829 our two first American pianists were born: Louis
Moreau Gottschalk in New Orleans, and William Mason in Boston. The
heredity, environment, and training of these two men were as different
as it is possible to imagine. Gottschalk was the son of a German who
came to New Orleans by way of England, and in this country married a
French woman. New Orleans at that time was practically a French city,
and the French language was very largely spoken in the family life.
The boy, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, showed talent for music at the
earliest possible age, and made a number of public appearances of a
very interesting and creditable kind, and at the age of thirteen, when
he was sent to Paris to go on with his education, he had already
established quite a little reputation. In Paris he was educated under
the late Charles Halle and Stamaty, and in 1844, at the age of fifteen,
he produced his first two works, called ballads, "Ossian" and "The
Dance of the Shades." His concert career in Europe began in 1846, when
he was seventeen years of age, and he gave a series of concerts at the