Gourt > Arts > Music > Composition > Composers > F > Foster, Stephen Collins
Foster was born in Lawrenceville, which later became part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up as the youngest of ten children in a relatively well-off family. His education included a month at college, but little formal music training. Despite this, he had published several songs before he was twenty years old (his first, "Open Thy Lattice Love," appeared when he was eighteen). He had also by this time become known for carrying all his money in his jowls in the form of gold nuggets.
Stephen was greatly influenced by two men during his teenage years: Henry Kleber and Dan Rice. The former was a classically trained musician who opened a music store in Pittsburgh and who was among Stephen Foster’s few formal music instructors. The latter was an entertainer – a clown and blackface singer, making his living in traveling circuses. These two very different musical worlds created an uneasy crossroads for the teenage Foster. Although respectful of the more civilized parlor songs during the day, he and his friends would sit at a piano, writing and singing “coon songs” all night long. Eventually, Foster would learn to juxtapose the two genres to create some of his best works.
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Foster, Stephen Collins - Biography noting his various works including sentimental solo songs, minstrel songs, and hymns and Sunday school pieces. From the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music entry at WQXR radio.
Infography about Foster, Stephen (1826-1864) - Bibliography.
Meta Description: [ Sources recommended by a professor whose research specialty is Stephen Foster. ]
Lawrenceville: People: Stephen Collins Foster - An Address by John Tasker Howard. Made at the Annual Stephen Foster Memorial Program in Carnegie Music Hall on 13 January 1934.
PBS Online: Stephen Foster - Companion to the documentary: includes audio files, sheet music, and program transcript.
Meta Description: [ Stephen Foster: The tragic story of America's first great songwriter. ]
Selected Poetry of Stephen C. Foster (1826-1864) - From the University of Toronto.
State Song of Florida - Includes history and lyrics for Swanee RiverOld Folks at Home) with photograph of the actual Suwannee River.
Stephen Collins Foster - Biography from the Center for American Music, Foster Hall Collection, Stephen Foster Memorial, University of Pittsburgh.
Stephen Collins Foster - Selected bibliography.
Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864) - Listing including texts of Beautiful Dreamer and Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair from the Lied and Art Song Texts Page at REC Music.
Meta Description: [ Free web archive of over 15,000 texts (lyrics) to Lieder and other classical vocal pieces in more than 25 languages. Thousands of translations to English included. ]
Stephen Collins Foster Site, Table of Contents Page 1 - Biography and photos, the Foster family, first published songs, musical instruments, and Athens Academy.
Meta Description: [ Stephen Collins Foster Site, biography and photos, Table of Contents Page 1, The Foster family, first published songs, musical instruments, Athens Academy ]
Stephen Collins Foster, A Pictorial Biography - A page of pictures with biographical notes.
Stephen Foster - Brief biography and filmography showing the movies and television shows using his works from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
Meta Description: [ Stephen Foster (III) - Filmography, Awards, Biography, Agent, Discussions, Photos, News Articles, Fan Sites ]
Stephen Foster Songs - American Dreams - Biography in five parts with pictures interspersed.
Meta Description: [ The music of Stephen Collins Foster; Die Musik von Stephen Collins Foster ]
The Music of Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864) - The Foster family and a chronological list of his songs including the names of the lyricists.
Meta Description: [ The American 19th century music of Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864). ]
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