Widely regarded as the first characteristically American composer, Stephen Foster wrote music that drew from both Southern dialects and Northern sensibilities, paradoxically reflecting both the entirety of the American experience and the divisive time in which he lived and wrote. The songs featured on this album were written as “parlor arias,” simple enough to be performed and enjoyed in the mid 19th-century American home.
Widely regarded as the first characteristically American composer, Stephen Foster wrote music that drew from both Southern dialects and Northern sensibilities, paradoxically reflecting both the entirety of the American experience and the divisive time in which he lived and wrote. The songs featured on this album were written as “parlor arias,” simple enough to be performed and enjoyed in the mid 19th-century American home.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Track 1-14 recorded April 1972 at the Smithsonian Institution, Division of Musical Instruments, Washington, DC
Instrumental accompaniments realized by William Bolcom
Editorial supervision: William Bolcom and Joshua Rifkin
Track 15-23 recorded June 1976 at the Smithsonian Institution, Division of Musical Instruments, Washington, DC
Flute arrangements realized by James Weaver
Engineering and musical supervision: Marc J. Aubort, Joanna Nickrenz (Elite Recordings, Inc.)
Mastering: Robert C. Ludwig (Masterdisk Corp.)
Coordinator: Teresa Sterne
Cover art: Jack Martin
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MUSICIANS
Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-soprano
Leslie Guinn, baritone
Gilbert Kalish, piano, melodeon
with
Robert Sheldon, flute (2, 7, 8), keyed bugle (14)
Sonya Monosoff, violin (7, 13)
Douglas Koeppe, piccolo (15), flute (20, 22)
James Weaver, piano II (19)
The Camerata Chorus of Washington (15, 18, 20, 21)
Noami Fenkel, Dorothy Horton, J’aime Ryskind, soprano
Mary Akright, Joan Reinthaler, Heather Schaufele, alto
Donald Chestnut, Allan Parrent, Harry Price, tenor
George Harshaw, Howard Markham, David Parker, bass
