Stephen Foster

Ep 2

“Stephen Foster’s music is the trunk of the tree of American song, sturdy with songs we love to sing,” says Thomas Hampson. In this program we explore Foster’s music, the varied artistic roots he drew from, and the musical branches that grew from his work.

Info / Credits

Additional music included in this program:
Le Banjo
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Philip Martin, piano
Hyperion 66459

Symphony #2, fifth movement
Charles Ives
New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Sony Classical 60202

Oft in the Stilly Night
Traditional Irish tune arranged by John Stevenson / Thomas Moore
Maggie Teyte, soprano
Pearl 9326

Tu che a Dio spiegasti l’ali
from Lucia di Lammermoor
Gaetano Donizetti / Salvatore Cammarano after Sir Walter Scott
José Carreras, tenor; New Philharmonia Orchestra/Jesús López-Cobos
London 470421

Swanee River Rock
Ray Charles, based on Stephen Foster / Stephen Foster
Ray Charles, singer
The Best of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years, Rhino Records

Swanee
George Gershwin, based on Stephen Foster / Irving Caesar
Al Jolson, singer
PIMO 6044

Songs