The Créole Romantics

Richard Rosenberg

Quality, Audience-Friendly 
Original American Classical Music for your Symphony Orchestra

In the glittering international culture of pre-Civil War New Orleans, the Créole Romantics, a group of gifted composers from both the black and white communities, created music that combined the best influences of the Old and New Worlds.

Galvanized by the success of their headliner, superstar composer/pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk, whose Symphony No. 1 – “A Night in the Tropics” introduced South American samba rhythms to the orchestral concert hall, the Créole Romantics also produced such milestone works as Edmond Dédé’s’Mon Pauvre Coeur (the first music by a black composer to be published in the United States). And it was a family affair: the Dédé and Lambert musical dynasties were crucial links in the shifting styles that became American jazz.

Neglected for a century after the Civil War’s turmoil forced the Créole Romantics into exile, this exceptional repertoire is once again available, resurrected and restored for performance by conductor Richard Rosenberg.

Music of the Créole Romantics: 

  • is perfect for Black History Month concerts
  • has inspired cheering audiences at the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Liverpool Philharmonic, the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, the Hot Springs Music Festival and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the BBC Proms
  • can be presented in stand-alone programs or combined with standard repertoire
  • packages include clear computer-printed orchestral parts, guest conductor, promotional materials, radio interviews, pre-concert talks and program notes
  • compact discs on Naxos Records (including the Grammy-nominated Gottschalk discs) promote concert attendance through radio broadcasts orchestral repertoire can be configured with programs of chamber and solo works to create “”mini-Festivals” 

Créole Romantics Orchestral Works

Basil Bares (1846-1902)

  • Los Campanillas *

Edmond Dédé (1827-1901)

Eugène Arcade Dédé (b. c. 1864, son of Edmond Dédé)

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869)

  • Ave Maria (with soprano soloist) 1862 *
  • Célèbre Tarantelle (with piano soloist) original version by the composer; also for chamber ensemble, 1874 (arr. N. A. Espadero)
  • Escènas campestres Cubanas (14-minute opera, with soprano, tenor & baritone) 1859
    II. Trio
    III. Danza
  • Fantasia on Méhul’s Overture on“La Chasse du Jeune Henrí” (with three pianos, ten-hands soloists) 1868
  • I Don’t See It, Mama! (with soprano soloist) 1862 *
  • Radieuse 1863 *
  • Symphony No. 1: Symphonie romantique – “A Night in the Tropics”
    I. ‘Noche en los Tropicos’ (A Night in the Tropics)
    II. ‘Festa Criolla’ (Creole Festival)
    – in original version, 1859, for large orchestra (ed. Rosenberg) or, version for standard symphonic forces *
  • Symphony No. 2, “Á Montevideu” 1868
    I. Andante
    II. Presto
  • The Young Shepherdess & the Knight (with soprano soloist) 1859*
  • Variations on a Portuguese Hymn 1869
  • Souvenir de Porto Rico (Marche des Gibaros); The Dying Poet (meditation); Tournament Galop; O! Ma Charmante; La Bananier (Chanson Nègre); Manchega (Etude de Concert) (orch. Jack Elliott)

Lucièn Léon Guillaume Lambert (1858-1945, son of Charles Lucièn Lambert)

Sydney Lambert (1838-c. 1900, cousin of Charles Lucièn Lambert)

  • Stella, Mon Étoile

Samuel Snäer (1835-1900)

  • Sous Sa Fenêtre (with vocal soloist) 1872

Also available: works for chamber ensemble, chorus, piano four-hands and piano solo.

* orchestrated by Richard Rosenberg