Although Louis Moreau Gottschalk left his native New Orleans behind for a sojourn in Europe beginning in his early teens, his Creole childhood left an indelible impression on him. In fact, a number of the works Gottschalk composed in Europe during his emergence as a gifted composer and performer are pianistic elaborations on Creole folk songs; these include the appearance in Gottschalk's Le Mancenillier (Op. 11) of the tune "Chanson de Lizette," his use of "Quan' patate la cuite" in Bamboula (Op. 2), and in the work under consideration here—La Savane (Op. 3)—the use of the song "Le belle Lolotte" (a tune similar to, and probably an ancestor of, "Skip to My Lou"). La Savane was written for and dedicated to Queen Doña Maria of Portugal in 1845, when the composer was only about 16 years old (suggesting the speed with which his work became known in important circles). As in Gottschalk's other "Creole Fantasies" from around the same period, the source tune is readily recognizable. It is presented in a plaintive fashion, with little adornment at the beginning of the piece, but its shape is altered and its harmonic trajectory skewed as it is subjected to increasingly complex variations. By the end of the piece (which runs just under nine minutes in an average performance), the character of the tune has drastically changed from the lighthearted and lively mood of its folk form to the sullen, conflicted feel of the final variations. The increasing complexity of the variations also hints at the virtuosic flair and aplomb that would come to characterize Gottschalk in his maturity. In fact, in response to hearing Gottschalk perform La Savane and other works from this time, one critic observed the emergence of a "purely American" musical trend. "We believe his compositions and playing—pure, national, and classical—will have a happy effect on the rising generation, and be the foundation of a school, at once legitimate, and characteristic."

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