"Susanna," "Jeanie," and "The old folks at home" : the songs of Stephen Foster from his time to ours / William W. Austin.

Author/creator Austin, William W.
Format Book
Edition2nd edition.
Publication InfoUrbana : University of Illinois Press, ©1987.
Descriptionxxiv, 422 pages ; 24 cm.
Subjects

SeriesMusic in American life
Music in American life. ^A223005
Contents Introduction. Three types of song, their writer and their meanings -- Part one. "Susanna" and other "comic, Ethiopian songs" - what they meant to do. Foster, the young amateur, 1847 -- Foster and his rivals in the international music business around 1850 -- Working singers -- Contemporary critics -- Foster, the craftsman, 1849-51 -- Part two. "Jeanie" and other "poetic songs" and ballads - what they meant to do. Foster and his family -- Foster and his public in the tradition of "home songs" -- Foster among his friends, to 1864 -- The public of publicity and Foster in his maturity -- Part three. "The old folks at home" and other "pathetic plantation songs" - what they meant to do. Foster and other contemporaries of Uncle Tom -- "People's songs" writers following Foster -- Jubilee singers and friends of the "folk" -- Composers of "new music" -- New singers and songwriters.
Abstract The music of celebrated composer Stephen Foster--whose two hundred songs include 'Camptown Races' and 'My Old Kentucky Home' as well as 'Susanna,' 'Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,' and 'The Old Folks at Home'--has influenced such famous composers and popular singers as Antonin Dvorak, Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Pete Seeger, and Ray Charles. Now, more than one hundred years after they were written, these songs are still popular. The author shows how generations of Americans have kept them alive, weaving them into the changing fabric of American life.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 403-404) and index.
LCCN 87013931
ISBN0252014766

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk ML410.F78 A9 1987 ✔ Available Place Hold