Foster's parents, Eliza Tomlinson Foster and William Barclay Foster
There are many biographies of Foster, but details differ widely. Among other issues, Foster wrote very little biographical information himself, and his brotherMorrison Foster may have destroyed much information that he judged to reflect negatively upon the family.[4][5]
Foster taught himself to play the clarinet, guitar, flute, and piano. In 1839, his brother William was serving his apprenticeship as an engineer at Towanda and thought that Stephen would benefit from being under the supervision of Henry Kleber (1816–1897), a German-born music dealer in Pittsburgh. Under Kleber, Stephen was exposed tomusic composition.[7] Together the pair studied the works ofMozart,Beethoven,Weber,Mendelssohn andSchubert.
The site of theCamptown Races – which would provide both the title and setting for events of one of Foster's best-known songs – was located 30 miles (48 km) from Athens and 15 miles (24 km) from Towanda. Foster's education included a brief period at Jefferson College inCanonsburg, Pennsylvania, now part ofWashington & Jefferson College.[8][nb 1] His tuition was paid, but he had little spending money.[8] He left Canonsburg to visit Pittsburgh with another student[when?] and did not return.[8]
Foster married Jane Denny McDowell on July 22, 1850, and they visited New York and Baltimore on their honeymoon. Foster then returned to Pennsylvania and wrote most of his best-known songs: "Camptown Races" (1850), "Nelly Bly" (1850), "Ring de Banjo" (1851), "Old Folks at Home" (known also as "Swanee River", 1851), "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853), "Old Dog Tray" (1853), and "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" (1854), written for his wife Jane.
Many of Foster's songs were used in theblackfaceminstrel shows popular at the time. He sought to "build up taste...among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs of that order".[11] However, Foster's output of minstrel songs declined after the early 1850s, as he turned primarily toparlor music.[12] Many of his songs hadSouthern themes, yet Foster never lived in theSouth and visited it only once, during his 1852 honeymoon. Available archival evidence does not suggest that Foster was an abolitionist.[12]
Foster's last four years were spent in New York City. There is little information on this period of his life, although family correspondence has been preserved.[13]
Illness and death
APittsburgh Press illustration of the original headstone on Stephen Foster's grave
Foster became sick with a fever in January 1864. Weakened, it is possible he fell in his hotel in the Bowery and cut his neck; he may also have sought to take his own life.[14] His writing partnerGeorge Cooper found him still alive but lying in a pool of blood. Foster died in Bellevue Hospital three days later at the age of 37.[15] His leather wallet contained a scrap of paper that simply said, "Dear friends and gentle hearts", along with 37 cents in Civil War scrip and three pennies.
Other biographers describe different accounts of his death.[16] Historian JoAnne O'Connell speculates in her biography,The Life and Songs of Stephen Foster, that Foster may have killed himself.[14] As O'Connell and musicologist Ken Emerson have noted, several of the songs Foster wrote during the last years of his life foreshadow his death, such as "The Little Ballad Girl" and "Kiss Me Dear Mother Ere I Die." Emerson says in his 2010Stephen Foster and Co. that Foster's injuries may have been "accidental or self-inflicted".[17]
Telegram that communicated Stephen Foster's death addressed to his brother Morrison Foster
The note inside Foster's wallet is said to have inspiredBob Hilliard's lyric for "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" (1949). Foster was buried in theAllegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. After his death, Morrison Foster became his "literary executor". As such, he answered requests for copies of manuscripts, autographs, and biographical information.[13] After his death, "Beautiful Dreamer", one of the best-loved of his works, was posthumously published in 1864.[18]
Foster grew up in Lawrenceville, now a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where many European immigrants had settled and were accustomed to hearing the music of the Italian,Scots-Irish, and German residents. He composed his first song when he was 14 and entitled it the "Tioga Waltz". The first song that he had published was "Open thy Lattice Love" (1844).[7][19] He wrote songs in support of drinking, such as "My Wife Is a Most Knowing Woman", "Mr. and Mrs. Brown", and "When the Bowl Goes Round", while also composing temperance songs such as "Comrades Fill No Glass for Me" or "The Wife".[6]
Foster also authored many church hymns, although the inclusion of his hymns in hymnals ended by 1910. Some of the hymns are "Seek and ye shall find",[20] "All around is bright and fair, While we work for Jesus",[21] and "Blame not those who weep and sigh".[22] Several rare Civil War-era hymns by Foster were performed by The Old Stoughton Musical Society Chorus, including "The Pure, The Bright, The Beautiful", "Over The River", "Give Us This Day", and "What Shall The Harvest Be?".[citation needed][when?] He also arranged many works byMozart,Beethoven,Donizetti,Lanner,Weber andSchubert for flute and guitar.
Foster usually sent his handwritten scores directly to his publishers. The publishers kept the sheet music manuscripts and did not give them to libraries nor return them to his heirs. Some of his original, hand-written scores were bought and put into private collections and theLibrary of Congress.[13]
Foster's songs, lyrics, and melodies have often been altered by publishers and performers.[23]
In 1957Ray Charles released a version of "Old Folks at Home" that was titled "Swanee River Rock (Talkin’ ’Bout That River)", which became his first pop hit that November.[24]
A 1974 published collection,Stephen Foster Song Book; Original Sheet Music of 40 Songs (New York : Dover Publications, Inc.), of Stephen Foster's popular songs was edited by musicologistRichard Jackson.[26]
Professor of folklore and musician John Minton wrote a song titled "Stephen C. Foster's Blues".[27]
Walt Kelly recorded an a cappella rendition of Foster's "Old Dog Tray" on the 1956 albumSongs of the Pogo. Kelly regularly referenced "Old Dog Tray" as the theme song for his character Beauregard Hound Dog, from his comic stripPogo.
The Firesign Theatre makes many references to Foster's compositions in their CDBoom Dot Bust (1999, Rhino Records).
Larry Kirwan ofBlack 47 mixes the music of Foster with his own in the musicalHard Times, which earned aNew York Times accolade in its original run: "a knockout entertainment". Kirwan gives a contemporary interpretation of Foster's troubled later years and sets it in the tumultuous time of the New York draft riots and the Irish–Negro relations of the period. A revival ran at theCell Theater in New York in early 2014, and a revised version of the musical calledParadise Square opened atBerkeley Repertory Theatre in 2018.
Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song in 1970 titled "Your Love's Return (Song for Stephen Foster)."
Randy Newman's 1970 album12 Songs contained Newman's song "Old Kentucky Home" (originally titled "Turpentine and Dandelion Wine"), which is based on Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!" Newman toldBillboard magazine, "It's a good song because Stephen Foster wrote the hook".[28] Under various titles, Newman's "Old Kentucky Home" was covered bythe Beau Brummels, theAlan Price Set andJohnny Cash.
Spike Jones recorded a comedy send-up "I Dream of Brownie with the Light Blue Jeans."
HumoristStan Freberg imagined a 1950s style version of Foster's music in "Rock Around Stephen Foster" and, withHarry Shearer, had a sketch about Foster having writer's block in a bit from his "United States of America" project.
SongwriterTom Shaner mentions Stephen Foster meeting up withEminem's alter ego "Slim Shady" on the Bowery in Shaner's song "Rock & Roll is A Natural Thing".
The music of Stephen Foster was an early influence on the Australian composerPercy Grainger, who stated that hearing "Camptown Races" sung by his mother was one of his earliest musical recollections. He went on to write a piece entitled "Tribute to Foster", a composition for mixed choir, orchestra, and pitched wine glasses based on the melody of "Camptown Races".[29]
Art Garfunkel was cast as Stephen Foster and sang his songs in an elementary school play in Queens, New York.[30]
Foster's name is included in the rapid fire litany of musicians and songs that make up the lyrics of the 1974 pop novelty song "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" by Reunion.
Foster commemorative stamp in the Famous American Composers series, 1940[32]
Television
Two television shows about the life of Foster and his childhood friend (and later wife) Jane MacDowell were produced in Japan, the first in 1979 with 13 episodes, and the second from 1992 to 1993 with 52 episodes; both were titledJeanie with the Light Brown Hair after the song of the same name.
In theHoneymooners episode "The $99,000 Answer", Ralph Kramden studies decades' worth of popular songs for his upcoming appearance on a televisiongame show. Before each song, Ed Norton warms up on the piano by playing the opening to "Swanee River". On the program, Ralph is asked his first question for just 100 dollars: "Who is the composer of 'Swanee River'?" Ralph freezes, then nervously responds "Ed Norton?" and loses.
Lucille Ball, in an episode ofThe Lucy Show, announces that she is about to play a record called "Bing Crosby Sings Stephen Foster." A Crosby impressionist is heard singing (to the melody of "Camptown Races") "A-bum-bum-bum-bum bum-bum-bum, Stephen, Foster..."
In the filmTombstone (1993),Billy Clanton (played byThomas Haden Church) tries to baitDoc Holliday (Val Kilmer), who is playing aChopinnocturne on the piano, by saying, "Is that 'Old Dog Tray'? That sounds like 'Old Dog Tray' to me." When the goad fails, Clanton asks whether Doc knows any other songs, like"'Camptown Races'?, 'Oh Susanna', You know, Stephen stinkin' Foster?!?"
In the filmA Million Ways to Die in the West,Seth MacFarlane's character, Albert, can't get Foster's song "If You've Only Got a Mustache", from the previous scene, out of his head.Charlize Theron's character suggests singing a different song, to which he replies, "There are only like 3 songs", and she adds "And they're all by Stephen Foster."
In the movieFrankie and Johnny (1966), starringElvis Presley, Johnny (Elvis‘ character) talking to Cully (played byHarry Morgan) when reviewing a song says "Let's hear it Stephen Foster".
Other events
"Stephen Foster! Super Saturday" is a day ofthoroughbred racing during the Spring/Summer meet atChurchill Downs inLouisville, Kentucky. During the call to the post, selections of Stephen Foster songs are played by the track bugler, Steve Buttleman. The day is headlined by theStephen Foster Handicap, a Grade I dirt race for older horses at 9 furlongs.
Taylor Mac'sA 24-Decade History of Popular Music includes a "Father of American Music Smackdown" in hour eight putting Foster's more problematic qualities up against the figure of Walt Whitman.
Stephen Foster Music Camp is a summer music camp held onEastern Kentucky University's campus of Richmond, Kentucky. The camp offers piano courses, choir, band, and orchestra ensembles.
A publicsculpture byGiuseppe Moretti honoring Foster and commemorating his song "Old Uncle Ned" sat near the Stephen Foster Memorial until 2018. The statue was removed following complaints about the banjo-playing slave seated next to Foster.[34]
InAlms Park inCincinnati, overlooking the Ohio River, there is a seated statue of him.
Foster is honored on theUniversity of Pittsburgh campus with theStephen Foster Memorial, a landmark building that houses the Stephen Foster Memorial Museum, the Center for American Music, and two theaters: the Charity Randall Theatre and Henry Heymann Theatre, both performance spaces for Pitt's Department of Theater Arts. It is the largest repository for original Stephen Foster compositions, recordings, and other memorabilia his songs have inspired worldwide.
One state park is named in honor of Foster's songs,My Old Kentucky Home State Park, a historic mansion formerly named Federal Hill, located inBardstown, Kentucky, where Foster is said to have been an occasional visitor according to his brother, Morrison Foster.[citation needed] The park dedicated a bronze statue in honor of Stephen's work.
TheLawrenceville Historical Society, together with theAllegheny Cemetery Historical Association, hosts the annual Stephen Foster Music and Heritage Festival (Doo Dah Days!). Held the first weekend of July, Doo Dah Days! celebrates the life and music of one of the most influential songwriters in America's history. His home in the Lawrenceville section ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, still remains on Penn Avenue near theStephen Foster Community Center.
Although most of Foster's original lyrics and manuscripts are lost, a sketchbook of his artwork is preserved at the Memorial's research library at the Pitt.
Statue controversy and later views
A 1900statue of Foster byGiuseppe Moretti was located inSchenley Plaza, in Pittsburgh, from 1940 until 2018. On the unanimous recommendation of the Pittsburgh Art Commission, the statue was removed on April 26, 2018.[35] Its new home has not yet been determined. It has a long reputation as the most controversial public art in Pittsburgh "for its depiction of an African-American banjo player at the feet of the seated composer. Critics say the statue glorifies white appropriation of black culture and depicts the vacantly smiling musician in a way that is at best condescending and at worst racist."[36] A city-appointed Task Force on Women in Public Art called for the statue to be replaced with one honoring an African American woman with ties to the Pittsburgh community. The Task Force held a series of community forums in Pittsburgh to collect public feedback on the statue replacement and circulated an online form which allowed the public to vote for one of seven previously selected candidates or write in an alternate suggestion.[37] However, the Task Force on Women in Public Art and the Pittsburgh Art Commission have not reached an agreement as to who will be commemorated or if the statue will stay in the Schenley Plaza location.[38]
The musicologist Ken Emerson has suggested that some of Foster's songs are "a source of racial embarrassment and infuriation."[39]
^ His grandfather James Foster was an associate ofJohn McMillan and a founding trustee of Canonsburg Academy, a predecessor institution to Jefferson College; his father William Barclay Foster attended Canonsburg Academy until age 16.[9]
^Howard, John Tasker (March 1944). "The Literature on Stephen Foster".Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association.1 (2):10–15.doi:10.2307/891301.ISSN0027-4380.JSTOR891301.
^abO'Connell, JoAnne (2016).The Life and Songs of Stephen Foster: a Revealing Portrait of the Forgotten Man Behind Swanee River, Beautiful Dreamer, and My Old Kentucky Home. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 321.ISBN9781442253865.
^Steel, David Warren (2008). "Foster, Stephen (1826–1864) Composer and Songwriter".The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture; Volume 12: Music. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 229–230.ISBN9780807832394.JSTOR10.5149/9781469616667_malone.86. Access provided by the University of Pittsburgh
^Whitburn, Joel, Top R&B Singles, 1942–1999, p. 74.
^Lewis, Thomas P. (1991).A Source guide to the music of Percy Grainger (1st ed.). White Plains, New York: Pro/Am Music Resources.ISBN9780912483566.OCLC24019532.
^"1-cent Foster". Arago: people, postage & the post, Smithsonian National Postal Museum. RetrievedMay 10, 2015.
^Lerner, Neil (September 2006). "Review:Tunes for 'Toons': Music and the Hollywood Cartoon by Daniel Goldmark".Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association.63 (1):121–124.JSTOR4487739.
Hodges, Fletcher Jr. (1948).The Research Work of the Foster Hall Collection. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Hodges, Fletcher Jr. (1958).The Swanee River and a Biographical Sketch of Stephen Collins Foster. Whitefish, Montana: Literary Licensing.ISBN978-1258193980.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Howard, John Tasker (March 1944). "The Literature on Stephen Foster".Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association.1 (2):10–15.doi:10.2307/891301.JSTOR891301.
Milligan, Harold Vincent (1920).Stephen Collins Foster: A Biography Of America's Folk-Song Composer. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing.ISBN978-0548971864.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Morneweck, Evelyn (1973).Chronicles of Stephen Foster's Family. Associated Faculty Press.ISBN978-0804617420.
O'Connell, JoAnne (2016).The Life and Songs of Stephen Foster: a Revealing Portrait of the Forgotten Man Behind Swanee River, Beautiful Dreamer, and My Old Kentucky Home. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 321.ISBN9781442253865.
"Foster Hall Collection". Center for American Music; University of Pittsburgh. RetrievedMarch 24, 2017.
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