Stephen Collins Foster

Books about Stephen Collins Foster and his music

Ken Emerson Doo-Dah: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture Da Capo Press, 1998; ISBN 0306808528; 416 pages In "the first true biography of Foster in more than sixty years and the only good one . . . Emerson lays out this complex story with grace, originality, dispatch, and insight" ("Robert Christgau, "The Los Angeles Times"). 34 illustrations. Price indication: $ 18.95

Ellen Hunter Ulken Beautiful Dreamer: The Life of Stephen Collins Foster Xlibris Corporation, 2005-03-16; ISBN 1413467369; 108 pages While East Coast composers of the mid-1800s continued to imitate the music of their European forebears, Pittsburgh native Stephen Foster infused his compositions with the rich and diverse flavors of river life. By mixing this "western" essence with the style of traditional English folk songs, he created an original American sound. "Oh! Susannah," his first hit, became the banner song of forty-niners during the California gold rush. "Old Kentucky Home," "Old Folks at Home," "Camptown Races" and "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" are still sung a century and a half later. But despite the popularity of his music, the pioneer of American songwriting died in poverty. Beautiful Dreamer is his story. Price indication: $ 6.69

Helen Boyd Higgins STEPHEN FOSTER BOY MINSTREL Bobbs-Merrill Company Inc, 1963-01-01 Price indication: $ 1.76

Susan Zannos The Life and Times of Stephen Foster (Masters of Music) Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2003; ISBN 1584152133; 48 pages Stephen Foster was a musical genius born at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and into the wrong family. The middle of the 19th Century was an era of development, of conquering the land and building canals and railroads. The men who were admired were the engineers and builders, the developers and inventors, not artists and composers. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cincinnati, Ohio where Stephen grew up and spent his early years were rough river towns. Fortunes were made and lost transporting goods on the rivers. The Foster family was originally successful, but by the time Stephen was born on the 4th of July 1826, they were losing their land and their home. The years of Stephen's childhood were spent in cheap boarding houses or living with relatives. Little attention was given to the quiet, dreamy boy who wanted only to wander with his flute down along the levee. There he listened to the music of the African Americans who worked on the riverboats. Stephen's father considered his interest in music to be a bad habit. Stephen persisted in writing songs—the best-loved and most famous songs in America. But he wrote his songs before the days when copyright laws protected songwriters. If he had written his music today—"Oh! Susanna," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Camptown Races," "Old Black Joe," "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" he would be a millionaire many times over. When Stephen Foster died in poverty in New York in 1864, he was not completely penniless. He had 38 cents in his pocket, one penny for each year he lived. Price indication: $ 12.97

William W. Austin Susanna, Jeanie, and the Old Folks at Home: The Songs of Stephen C. Foster from His Time to Ours Macmillan Pub Co, 1975; ISBN 0025045008; 420 pages Price indication: $ 0.38

Dorothy Berlinger joint arr Commins and Sharp and Stephen Collins Foster and John Tasker Howard and A treasury of Stephen Foster No publisher, 1946; 222 pages Price indication: $ 0.45

John Tasker Howard Stephen Foster, America's troubadour Tudor Pub. Co, 1943; 445 pages Price indication: $ 0.94

John Tasker Howard Stephen Foster: America's troubadour Tudor Pub. Co, 1945; 445 pages Price indication: $ 3.50

Helen Boyd Higgins Stephen Foster: Boy minstrel (Childhood of famous Americans) (Childhood of famous Americans) Bobbs-Merrill Co, 1963; 200 pages Price indication: $ 4.05

Stephen Foster and William Sharp (illustrator) and John Tasker Howard (Historical notes) and Deems T A Treasury of Stephen Foster Random House, 1947 Price indication: $ 2.75

Esther; Illustrated By Jo Polseno Douty The Story of Stephen Foster. Signature Books Series Grosset & Dunlap, 1954-01-01 Price indication: $ 0.75

Paul Green The Stephen Foster story Samuel French, 1960; 107 pages Price indication: $ 44.90

John Tasker Howard Stephen Foster, America's troubadour Tudor Pub. Co, 1940; 445 pages Price indication: $ 6.00

Harold Vincent Milligan Stephen Collins Foster: A biography of America's folk-song composer G. Schirmer, 1920; 116 pages Stephen Foster occupies a unique position in the history of music, not only of this country, but of the world. No other single individual produced so many of those songs which are called "folk-songs," by which is meant songs that so perfectly express the mood and spirit of the people that they become a part of the life of all the "folk" and speak as the voice, not of an individual, but of all. So completely do the "folk" absorb these songs and adapt them to their own uses, that the individuality and frequently even the name of the originator is completely lost, thus giving rise to the erroneous idea that a "folk-song" is a song created not by an individual but by a community. It is obvious that all things must have a beginning, however obscure, and every folk-song is first born in the heart and brain of some one person, whose spirit is so finely attuned to the voice of that inward struggle which is the history of the soul of man, that when he seeks for his own self-expression, he at the same time gives a voice to that vast "mute multitude who die and give no sign." Such a one was Stephen Foster, more fortunate in his fate than that glorious company of nameless poet-souls, whose aspiration after "the fair face of Beauty, haunting all the world," is preserved in the folk-songs of the world. Price indication: $ 15.50

Sheet music, libretti, etc.

An Old Kentucky Garden: Operetta in Two Acts Based on the Music of Stephen C. Foster - Raymond A. Hoffman Co

Memories of Stephen Foster. An Album of Songs by America's Most Beloved Composer [ songbook ] - NY, Edward B Marks Music

Stephen Collins Foster: Sixty Favorite Songs (Bill's Music Shelf) - Mel Bay Publications, Inc.

Stephen Foster & Co.: Lyrics of the First Great American Songwriters - Library of America

Stephen Foster : Immortal Melodies - New York: Robbins Music

Stephen Foster Favorites (From the Bastiens...) - Neil A Kjos Music

Stephen Foster for Mountain Dulcimer - Mel Bay Publications, Inc.

Stephen Foster Song Book - Dover Publications

Stephen Foster Songbook 87 Worlds Favorite - Ashley Publications Inc. - 39 titles, including: B

Stephen Foster Songs for Harmonica - Not Avail

The Songs of Stephen Foster - Hal Leonard Corporation