Teresa Carreño, Gottschalk Waltz, Op. 1

Valerie Capel, University of North Georgia

The United States imported musicians not only from Europe, but from South America as

well. Often called “the Valkyrie of the Piano,” piano prodigy Maria Teresa Gertrudis de Jesús

(Carreño) was born on December 22, 1853 in Caracas, Venezuela, to Manuel Antonio Carreño

Muñoz (1812-1874) and Clorinda Garcia de Sena y Rodriguez del Toro (1816-1866). Her father, after seeing that Teresa had a natural curiosity and skill for the piano, personally taught and guided her musical education. Manuel Antonio, who practiced as a lawyer and served as minis- ter of finance in Venezuela, also wrote an influential and widely-read Manual of Urbanity and

Good Manners in 1853. As a trained musician, Antonio wrote 500 exercises for his daughter

that she played regularly in all keys, achieving great technical skill from an early age. He also taught her harmony and composition. Armed with this knowledge, she had composed many short works for piano—including eight waltzes, one mazurka, three dances, two polkas, and three capriccios—by the age of 8.

In 1862, the Carreño family immigrated to New York City. They fled a war that had bro- ken out in their homeland, only to land in the United States, ironically, during the Civil War. It was in New York City that Teresa debuted as a child prodigy on the piano. Although travel between states was often limited during this time, Carreño was able to perform between 1862 and 1865 along the Eastern Seaboard. During Carreño’s first month in New York City, her talent did not go unnoticed by the great pianist and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869), who made the decision to give her lessons. In a letter written to a friend, Gottschalk remarked, 1

“She is not only a wonderful child, but a real genius. As soon as I

am in New York… I intend to devote myself to her musical in-

struction.”1 Carreño’s first published composition is dedicated to

him: The Gottschalk Waltz, Op. 1, composed in 1862.

Gottschalk Waltz, although written by a ten-year-old girl, is

a technically dazzling display of virtuosity. Following basic chord

progressions, this early composition doesn’t stray too far from its

Ab major starting point, modulating into f minor, Eb major, and c

minor. Carreño’s love of trills and leaps is well represented, eliciting awe due to her small

hands. The waltz itself contains eight waltz tunes and adheres to the typical oom-pah-pah

rhythm than defines the waltz.

Following the triumphs of her New York debut, Carreño took the next four years to con- quer Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and even the White House, where she performed for

Abraham Lincoln and his family. Later came international trips to Havana, Cuba, Paris, and Lon- don. Before she could extend her trip to Madrid, her mother tragically passed away from chol- era in 1866. The death of her mother dealt a devastating blow, but did not deter Carreño from performing. Dressed in a heavy black silk dress, Carreño was warmly received in the concert halls of Paris, where sympathy for her misfortune made her doubly welcome.

Most of Carreño’s published works were written between the years of 1863 and 1873 as

she toured Europe giving concerts. It was late 1872 when Carreño joined Max Strakosch and his

performing troupe, presenting a series of concerts that originated in New York with stops

throughout the East Coast, the Midwest, and the Southeast, ending in London. It was within the

troupe that Carreño met her first of four husbands, violinist Émile Sauret, whom she married

July 13, 1873. At the age of twenty, Carreño gave birth to her first child, a daughter, and shortly

after, her father passed away in 1874. By 1876, her marriage was all but over, and Carreño had

adopted out her daughter to a family friend.

Carreño continued her extensive concert tour along the East Coast. By the spring of

1877, Carreño’s professional relationship with fellow troupe member and Italian baritone Gio-

vanni Tagliapietra had turned romantic; months later she was pregnant with her second child,

who would pass away three years later due to illness.

Tagliapietra, or “Tag” as she knew him, would become a

common law husband as her marriage to Sauret was

still legally binding.

By 1882, Teresa Carreño was no longer a child

prodigy, but an adult artist in her own right. She contin-

ued to tour and compose, even taking a short break to

give birth to her third child, Teresita. Between May and

December of 1884, Carreño was noticeably ab-

sent from the concert scene, presumably to Teresa Carreño with her children Giovanni and Teresita Tagliapietra and Eugenia and Hertha D’Albert. Berlín 1897. take care of her daughter while awaiting the Photography by JC Schaarwarchter.

birth of her fourth child, son Giovanni. Carreño

stayed busy performing closer to home, remaining in the Eastern United States and Canada un-

til 1885, when she was invited back to Venezuela to give a series of concerts and to open an

opera company. While the concerts were a success, the opera company was not, and the family

3 returned to the United States in August 1887. Shortly after, her relationship with Tag found itself at an end. Carreño, however, continued to tour the United States and Europe with her young children in tow. During this time, Carreño wrote a petition to her first daughter’s adop- tive mother asking for a visit, but was denied. Despite the disappointment, Carreño continued her concert schedule and met Scottish born German pianist and composer Eugen d’Albert

(1864-1932). The pair were married July 27, 1892 while she was pregnant with her fifth child.

By September 1894, her sixth and last child, daughter Hertha, was born, and Carreño was again facing another public divorce, all the while maintaining her concert schedule, children, and household.

The family moved to Berlin where Carreño continued to actively compose and make ap- pearances in England, Scotland, and other European cities, oftentimes performing the works of

Chopin and Beethoven. In 1897, Carreño completed a tour across North America and stopped over in England to recuperate, teach, practice, and spend time with her family. Carreño had also struck up a relationship with her former brother-in-law, Arturo Tagliapietra, and eventually married for a fourth time. That union would last until her death in 1917.

Now that she had cemented her reputation as an international artist, Carreño took on

Australia and New Zealand. During the many years in which Berlin served as her home base, she reached new heights of exposure and acclaim and she was sought out as a teacher. She fre- quently performed the works of Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, MacDowell (her former pu- pil), Schumann, Rubinstein, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Weber, in addition to her own compositions.

Meanwhile, the Great War broke out, and Carreño found her assets frozen, her students gone, and two of her children, Giovanni and Teresita, arrested separately under suspicion of being German spies. Carreño had to negotiate the release of her children, and after doing so, left for the United States in 1917, accepting a position at the Chicago Musical College. She never of- ficially started the job, however, as she fell ill and was diagnosed with diplopia (double vision).

A few months later, on June 12, Teresa Carreño passed away in her apartment. Her remains were cremated after her funeral. In 1938, her ashes were repatriated to Venezuela and later interred on December 9, 1977 at the Panteón Nacional. Pianist Claudio Arrau (1903-91), another South American-born child prodigy, heard her perform in Berlin in 1916. Recalling her playing later in life, he said, simply: “Oh! She was a goddess!”2 Her legacy now consists of her compositions and her reputation for being a technical talent at the piano. She was also honored by her home country when they named The Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex in Caracas. Many of her papers and compositions, some incomplete, were acquired by Vassar College.

George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress) Restored by Adam Cuerden. This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.23737. Image cropped, contrast adjusted.

Listening Guide

Work: “Gottschalk Waltz” Composer: Teresa Carreño Performed by: Alexandra Oehler Recording: https://youtu.be/pdFyf3UyL_4 Score: https://imslp.org/wiki/Gottschalk_Waltz_(Carre%C3%B1o%2C_Teresa)

Time Form What to listen for

0’00” Introduction Playful introduction featuring dotted rhythms and dynamic contrast 0’50” Virtuosity displayed early on with chromatically ascending 64th notes 1’15” First Waltz Tune Waltz begins, with typical chordal accompaniment (usually pri- mary chords) played in a homophonic texture Two 4-bar phrases, AA’ 1’33” Second Waltz Tune 4-bar phrases, AA’

1’06” Third Waltz Tune 8-bar phrases, AA’

1’52” Fourth Waltz Tune 8-bar phrases, AA’

2’32” Fifth Waltz Tune Switch to F minor, AA’B

3’08” Sixth Waltz Tune Sounds as if it could transition from minor to major, only to sur- prise the ear with the next section in a minor key 4’13” Seventh Waltz C minor section, two 4-bar phrases followed by one 8-bar phrase

Tune

4’53” Eight Waltz Tune Eb major, two 8-bar phrases

5’27” Dal Segno al fine Return to first waltz, with no repeats taken

5’38” Coda

5’48” Key change to E Major, 8-bar phrases

6’09” Key change back to Ab major

6’27” Finale Concludes with hints of the dotted rhythms heard earlier

Bibliography

Kijas, Anna E. The Life and Music of Teresa Carreño (1853-1917): A Guide to Research. United States:

Music Library Association, 2019.

Milinowski, Marta. Teresa Carreño, “by the Grace of God.” New York: Da Capo Press, 1977.

Mann, Brian. “Teresa Carreño: Walküre of the Piano.” https://specialcollections.vassar.edu/exhibit-high-

lights/2001-2005/carreno/

“Maria Teresa Carreno (1853-1917).” Mahler Foundation, November 21, 2019. https://mahlerfounda-

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Olivera, Claudio. “Teresa Carreno: Pianist, Composer and Pedagogue. Her Life And Work From The Per- spective Of Virtuoso Piano Playing At The End Of The 19th Century.” https://scholarcom-

mons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4410&context=etd

Pita, Laura. “Carreño, (María) Teresa.” Grove Music Online. 28 May. 2015; Accessed 18 Sep. 2020. https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.libproxy.ung.edu/grovemu-

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Rodriguez, Clara. “A Citizen of the World, The Venezuelan Pianist, Teresa Carreño.” https://pianistclara-

rodriguez.wordpress.com/2017/04/02/a-venezuelan-woman-pianist-teresa-carreno-by-clara-rodriguez/

Stevenson, Robert. “Teresa Carreño (1853-1917): Remembered on Her 150th Anniversary.” Latin Ameri- can Music Review / Revista De Música Latinoamericana 25, no. 2 (2004): 163-79. Accessed September

18, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3598726