Transcript Stephen Foster - WordPress.com

Stephen Foster
America's First Composer
-SongWriter’s Hall of Fame
Margaret Cowley
Music and Culture, 1040
Wednesday, 5.30pm Class
Life
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Born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1826
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Ninth of Ten Children
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Worked as a bookkeeper for his older brother’s company, Irwin & Foster
Steamboat in Cincinnati
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Married Jane Denny McDowell on July 22, 1850
Daughter, Marion, born a year later
Separate many times before their final separation in 1854
‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair’ was inspired by his wife
during a separation
Musical Career
‘A melodic genius with tender, sympathetic lyrics and infectious
rhythm, …and widely regarded as one of the first who made
professional songwriting profitable. Fosters' songs were the first
genuinely American in theme, characterizing love of home, American
temperament, river life and work, politics, battlefields, slavery and
plantation life.’
-SongWriter’s Hall of Fame
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Never formally studied music composition
Loved music and taught himself to play:
Flute
Clarinet
Violin
Guitar
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Began Writing music at the age of 14
‘The Tioga Waltz’
‘Open thy Lattice, Love’ was published in 1844 at the age of 18
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First Hit: ‘Oh Susanna’
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Published in 1848
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Launched his career as a songwriter
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Only received the small fee of $100 from publisher
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Led to a serious contract with New York Publisher, Firth & Pond in
1849
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Became a favorite song of Minstrel Troops and an anthem for the
Goldrush
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Wrote mostly Minstrelsy and Parlor Music
Wrote 160 songs between 1850 and 1856, including:
Autumn Waltz (1846)
De Camptown Races (1850)
Old Folks At Home (1851)
In the Eye Abides the Heart (1851)
My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night (1853)
Willie We Have Missed You (1854)
Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair (1854)
Hard Times Come Again No More (1854)
The Village Maiden Comrades Fill No Glass for Me (1855)
Gentle Annie (1856)
Foster’s Minstrelsy
‘His work mirrored a kind, modest and sympathetic personality. In a
sentimental style inspired by the simplicity of southern plantation
music,…[Foster’s] songs... brought recognition and validity to Negro
songs.’
-Songwriter’s Hall of Fame
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Early 1850s, writing was mostly for Minstrelsy
Songs from beginning of career had:
simple melodies and accompaniments
depicted slaves as ‘simple, good natured creatures
dialect of black slaves
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Arranged to have his music performed by Edward Christy of Christy
Minstrels, the most successful Minstrel troop of the time
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Wanted to reform Minstrelsy by writing texts suitable to refined
tastes, instead of ‘trashy and really offensive words’
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Began ‘depicting the black as a human being experiencing pain, love, joy, even
nostalgia.’
‘Nelly Was a Lady’ (1849)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UczcRiXUhU
A slave mourning the death of his wife
Probably the first song written by white composer for
a white minstrel audience showing a black man and women as a
loving husband and wife
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Referred to his new songs as ‘plantation songs’ and later ‘American Melodies’ instead
of ‘Ethiopian’
Directed Christy to perform his songs to ‘engender compassion’ instead of in the comic
style
Songs referring to blacks treated them better and with more dignity and sensitivity
than others of the time
Parlor Songs
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After 1854, began concentrating on parlor ballads
Music was accepted in all social classes
Sales ran well into the hundreds of thousands and higher
‘In the Eye Abides the Heart’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s5nlGrc1mk&playnext=1&list=PL58A
272EA10327BDE&feature=results_main
Later Life
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Separation from wife in 1854 signaled downward trend
Both Parents and close friend, Charles Shiras died in 1855
Wrote only 4 songs in the 2 years following
Sold the rights to his existing song catalog to his publisher to meet
his debts
Moved to New York in 1860
Was not able to sign a new contract due to the war
All song sales were for cash
Wrote 98 songs in 3 years
parlor, hymns, and music hall numbers
music was less distinguished during this period
• ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ was written during this time and published after
death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U1l5y2rkzA
about escape from bitter reality
Death
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Died January 13, 1864 at 38 years old.
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Said to have died with less than 40 cents and a paper reading ‘Dear
Friend and gentle hearts’ in his pocket
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Music struck a chord with Southern Whites because of
sentimentality of his songs (separation from home and loved
ones, feelings of nostalgia)
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Blacks liked his music because it was good and because it
was inoffensive by the standards of the day
Interesting Facts
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Kept his own account books, kept track of he was paid for each
song; Calculated possible future earnings on each song
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Contracts were written in his own hand
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First person to make a living off of sales of his song writing
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Old Folks at home (Swanee River) became the official state song of
Florida in 1935
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My Old Kentucky Home became the state song of Kentucky in 1928
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Lived and worked in north east; only once traveled south of the
Mason Dixon line in 1852
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If he had written in the 20th century, would have been a millionaire
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Only earned $15, 091.08 in royalties during his lifetime
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His Heirs, wife and daughter, earned $4,199 in royalties after his
death
Sources
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200035701/default.html
http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/foster_stephen/bio.jhtml
http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/bio/C10
http://www.pitt.edu/~amerimus/FosterProfessionalcareer.html
Music is from my Itunes Collection
Pictures are from Google Images