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Artist
Clara Gottschalk Peterson
3+ albums
romanticamericanromantic periodwomen composers
about
Clara Gottschalk Peterson (1837–1910) was an American pianist, composer, and editor. She was the sister of virtuoso pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk, editing a collection of his writings and working to preserve his memory after his death. She is remembered as "a staunch protector of her brother's music in its original form", as well as "a composer of considerable ability" in her own right. Clara Gottschalk was born in 1837 in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the seven children of London-born Edward Gottschalk and Aimée (née Bruslé). The Gottschalk and Bruslé families were slave owners, and the children were raised in part by a nurse named Sally, who the Bruslés had taken with them as chattel from Saint-Domingue, and from whom they heard Creole legends and lullabies. Their maternal grandmother was also from Saint-Domingue, and between the two women its music "was a constant and vital presence in the Gottschalks' family circle". In 1847, Aimée left her husband and moved with six of the children to Paris, France, where Louis Moreau was already studying music. Aimée was "reputed to have believed that all the Gottschalk children would be musically gifted", and although not all of them went on to be as acclaimed as Louis Moreau, "all did perform publicly and/ or compose at one time or another". The youngest brother, Louis Gaston Gottschalk (1845–1912), was an eminent opera singer and vocal teacher. Clara and Blanche were both professional pianists, and Celestine and Augusta also per
