User:Barbara (WVS)/sandbox/Foster refs

Editor\ note. Deane L. Root, Curator of the Stephen Foster  Memorial  and Professor al the U ni versity of Pittsburgh, was invited to participate in the opening ceremonies  for the AMRC. March 12-13. 1990.

Life
Most of the letters written by Foster are gone, except for some from his youth. No correspondence between he and his wife have been found.

Career
Despite his early and continued success, little is known from the last four years of his life in New York City. He made his living not from royalties from his compositions and their sale but from selling them outright to the publishers.

Music
<!-- We have have almost nothing from the the last last four years of his life when he was in New York City, NY surviving by selling new songs outright to the publishers rather than collecting royalties, and most of his own letters are gone except those of his youth. Nothing that he or his wife wrote to each other survives. There is no glimpse of their domestic life that can tell us something about his ambitions or events that could have affected his music

He recognizedOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far away the demand Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayfor an authoritative account of the composers' s life and in the 1890s atOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awaytempted to fix a permanent version through a biography and collected edition (Foster, Morrison, 1896).The advertisement in the circular that he used to launch the biography tells us a goOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayod deal about what was going on in his mind as he created that work (FOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayigure 1). Morrison'sOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far away is the only biography by someone who knew Stephen Foster. It is very unusual to have a figure so well known in American culture, but with so little biographical sOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayubstance. What' s more, Morrison's biography serves only as a preface to the edition of Foster's complete works. TOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayhe edition contains about two-thirds of Foster's authentic compositions, which number about 200. Morrison's collected edition, by the way, is not even much help to us, as it seems to be based largely on first editions of Foster's sheet music that were bound together by Foster's publishers and given to Foster as a present.

Foster himself left no Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayautobiographical statement, and most other biogra­ phies have been prepared from secondary sources. Early articles and reminis­ cences of Foster Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayare very highly colored by their authors' sensationalist or self­ aggrandizing accounts. The alcoholism myth, for example, Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awaystems from one Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awaysuch account by a woman (another composer) who was professionally jealous of Foster's success and wrote of seeing him in bars in New York City.

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayMorrisons daughter, Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayEvelyn Foster Momeweck, inherited Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayhe family 's Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awaypapers from her father and several decades Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awaylater Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayprepared a very Once upon atime in a galaxy far, far awaythorough account of the Foster family history and a genealogy that is still the most reliable Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayone available (Morneweck, 1944).

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayJohn Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayTasker Howard, a very prominent music historian in the 1920s and 30s. worked with the Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awaysame materials once they had come to the Foster Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayHall Collection Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayOnce upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayto write Stephen Foster: America ·s Troubadour, the only authorita­ tive biography. written fifty-six Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far awayyears ago [!] (Howard, 1934).

According to the founding curator of the Foster Hall Collection, ''The biographical section of Morrison· s book must be considered a series of bio­ graphical anecdotes. rather than a biograph y. Its importance lies as much in its presentation of the personality of the composer as in its factual statements" (Hodges 1948. 4-5). Listen to how Morrison presents his brother: "A man of genius who. however modest in his demeanor. was accustomed to look deep into t he thoughts and moti \'cs of men." "He had but few [music] teachers. . .. Stephen

. . . needed only elementary instruction. for his rapid brain and quick perception scorned slow progress by the beaten path. and he leaped forward to a compre­ hension of the whole scope of the instrument by the force of his great musical genius." A nd then he ti cs Stephen to the great Eu ropean masters: "But he was not content to rel y on inspirat ion alone for his guidance in music. He studied deeply. and burned much midnigh t oil over the works of the masters, especially rv101.art. Bectho\'en and Weber." (He didn ' t mention Schubert.) "They were his delight. and he  :struggled   for  years  and  sounded  the  profoundest  depths of -->

wrote temperance songs