Hungarian Rhapsodies virtuoso pianist as well as a composer). Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle class, or by composers such as József Kossovits, often played by Roma (Gypsy) bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different tempo. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation—the "lassan" ("slow") and the "friska" ("fast"). At the same
Bob Cole (composer) Bob Cole (composer) Robert Allen Cole (July 1, 1868 – August 2, 1911) was an African American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director. In collaboration with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced "A Trip to Coontown" (1898), the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. The popular song "La Hoola Boola" (1898) was also a result of their collaboration. Cole later partnered with brothers J. Rosamond Johnson, pianist and singer, and James Weldon Johnson, pianist, guitarist and lawyer, which resulted in over 200 songs. Their vaudeville act featured classical piano pieces and their musicals featured sophisticated