Bamboula, Op. 2, is a fantasy composition for piano written by American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk during a delirium of typhoid fever in the French town of Clermont-sur-l'Oise between 1844–45. Dedicated to "à sa Majesté Isabelle II, Reine des Espagnes", it is the first of the so-called set of three "Louisiana Creole pieces" that Gottschalk composed between 1844–46.
Musical analysis
Based on two Creole melodies, Musieu Bainjo and Quan' patate la cuite, it was published with the subtitle of Danse des nègres at the Bureau Central de Musique on 22 April 1849 by the Paris publisher 'Escudiers', with many unauthorized copies being issued in Europe shortly thereafter. Its first concert performance occurred on the evening of Tuesday 17 April 1849 at the Salle Pleyel during Gottschalk's second appearance as a professional pianist.
The composition, written in the key of D-flat major, with a strongly rhythmically marked melody, is organized in three sections (A-A-B). The introduction begins with a concluding gesture in the bass range, mimicking a drum beat. The second is a transposition of the first theme, while the third is underlined by a heavily syncopated melody in the relative minor (B-flat minor). With a duple 2/4 time signature and an Allegro tempo marking, it is an exquisite and exotic musical piece with many shifting moods and virtuosic passages.