Stephen Foster essays

Stephen Foster essays Stephen Foster was one of the most influential composers of the pre-Civil war era. He composed some of the most famous American songs ever. Among these are Oh! Susanna, De Camp Town Races, and I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair. Unfortunately, he sold the rights to some of his best songs. Stephen Collins Foster, the ninth of William B. and Eliza T. Foster's ten children (plus a son fathered by William before the marriage and later raised as their oldest child), was born July 4, 1826, in a small cottage on the hillside above the Allegheny River in Lawrenceville, east of Pittsburgh. The tenth child died as an infant, leaving Stephen as the "baby" of the family to be indulged by older brothers and sisters. Fosters music was a unique blend of minstrel and plantation melodies. The form in most of Fosters songs is Strophic. This is the most common form of music. Strophic form occurs when two or more verses of text are set to the same melody. This is evident in his songs Oh! Susanna and I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair. This is the standard form for most songs. The repetition of the melody is necessary to keep the rhyme scheme alive. Most of Fosters songs also include the accompaniment of anther instrument. Usually a simple piano or guitar was used to compliment the tone. The meter in Fosters songs is commonly Duple, as in Oh! Susana. In this song, the meter is set so that lines 1 and 3 are the same. Also, lines 2 and 4 and the second line of the chorus are practically the same. Foster also sometimes uses the Quadruple meter form. The Quadruple form has four beats per measure. The music of Stephen Foster has a lot of historical significance. His songs were written in the mid 1800s, prior to the civil war. Fosters songs set the style for the patriotic songs of the civil war. It has even been said th...