Songbooks (words and music)
Songsters (words only)
Music Manuscripts
First and Early Editions of Foster's Music
Miscellaneous Vocal and Instrumental Music Scores
Bound Volumes of Sheet Music
Songbooks (words and music)
The FHC has approximately 850 songbooks. Included are general anthologies (i.e. those that include at least one Stephen Foster song), Foster anthologies, Hymnals and School Songbooks. The majority of our holdings are cataloged and entered in PITTCAT and nationally in OCLC. Uncatalogued items are listed in a database that is available upon request.
Songsters
The FHC has 229 songsters. Each songster is classified as either a Minstrel Show songster or a Campaign songster. The Minstrel Show songsters are mostly from the 1850's through the 1870's, with a few 20th-century items. The Campaign songsters are from presidential campaigns that took place from 1856 through the 1880's. Among the songsters' themes are temperance, labor, music hall and circus, Jenny Lind, sentimental songs, ethnic stereotype (e.g. Irish), patriotic, anti-slavery, and general collections.
Music Manuscripts
The FHC contains 82 original music manuscripts, including Stephen Foster's own holographs as well as arrangements of Foster's music by other composers.
Stephen Foster's holograph manuscripts (15 items)
The Abolition Show
The Five Nice Young Men (lyrics only)
For Thee, Love, for Thee
I Would Not Die In Springtime
Linda Has Departed
Lou'siana Belle
March in the Prophet, Meyerbeer
The May Queen (lyrics only)
Meet Me Tonight
Sadly to Mine Heart Appealing
Where is Thy Spirit, Mary? (2 manuscripts)
The Wife
Willie Has Gone to the War
Willie My Brave (mounted between glass)
Stephen Foster's manuscript sketchbook (1) --A complete photographic copy of this item with a table of contents, index, and foliation is also available.
Facsimiles of Foster Holographs in other collections (9 items in 2 volumes, 9 pieces together)
The Voices That Are Gone Open Thy Lattice, Love (2 manuscripts) Oh! Boys, Carry Me 'long (2 manuscripts) Maria Bach Waltz Where Has Lula Gone? Autumn Waltz Facsimiles of Morrison Foster's rendition of "Tioga Waltz"
Antonin Dvorak autograph arrangement of "Old Folks at Home," 1890s (full score; one set of separate parts; one photocopy of the full score; and rental copies of full score, orchestral parts, and choral score).
Anonymously copied manuscripts from the 19th-century (7 items)
Linda Has Departed (Foster) 1 folio
Nelly Was a Lady (Foster) 2 bifolio
Home Sweet Home (H.R. Bishop) 1 folio
The Brave Old Oak (E.J. Loder) 1 folio
Goosy Gander Trio (Mr. Hook)
Catch Trio (Henry Purcell) 1 folio
The Tinker Catch (Anonymous)
Raoul Georges Vidas arrangements for grand organ (10 items)
Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway
Beautiful Dreamer
Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming
The Glendy Burk
Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair
Massa's in de Cold Ground
My Old Kentucky Home
Old Black Joe
Old Folks at Home
Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair
Raoul Georges Vidas arrangements for violin and piano (10 items)
Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway
Beautiful Dreamer
Camptown Races
Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming
Glendy Burk
Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair
My Old Kentucky Home
Oh! Susanna
Old Folks at Home
Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair
Arcady Dubensky, holograph, "Variations on Stephen Foster themes"
"Where is Thy Spirit, Mary?" (Foster), 1895 copy prepared for the printer and glued to a heavy acidic board.
Other manuscripts presently unaccounted for include:
Raoul Georges Vidas arrangements for violin and piano "Angelina Baker," "Gentle Annie" "Nelly Bly," and "Old Memories ."
John Tasker Howard arrangements
[Foster] Sonatina (composed as a duo for violin and piano) Hard Times Come Again No More (piano solo) Oh! Susanna (piano solo) Old Folks at Home (piano solo) Old Uncle Ned (piano solo)
Foster overture composed by Oliver Strunk. Arranged for orchestra.
"Her Hats Were Called Bonnets." Words and music by Duano Phimister Woertz. Second verse of this song refers to Stephen Foster and the immortality of Old Folks at Home.
Fritz Krull arrangement, "Old Folks at Home," for horn quartet, first and second violins, viola, cello and bass.
Quartette arrangements and original compositions by Theodore Westman. Includes several arrangements for male quartet of Stephen C. Foster's "Massa's in De Cold Ground," and "Old Folks at Home."
"Reverie" composed by J.K. Lilly, arranged by Evelyn Foster Morneweck.
"Stephen Foster Melodies" arranged by Harry W. Campbell for organ solo: Tioga Waltz, Come With Thy Sweet Voice Again, Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair, Beautiful Child of Song, The Glendy Burk, Gentle Annie, Beautiful Dreamer.
"Swanee River" and "Love's Old Sweet Song" arranged by William Pelz for orchestra.
Three songs by Stephen Foster, arranged by Ferdinand Schaefer: Old Dog Tray, Jenny's Coming O'er the Green, Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair.
First and Early Editions of Foster's Music
Within FHC are approximately 6,830 first or early editions of Stephen Foster's music, including vocal solos with piano accompaniment, vocal solos with other instrument accompaniment, vocal choruses (mixed choruses as well as male and female choruses), and "associated scores", i.e. music based on or related to Foster's compositions but not composed by Stephen Foster.
Miscellaneous Vocal and Instrumental Music Scores
The approximately 2,000 miscellaneous nineteenth- and twentieth-century vocal and instrumental music scores in the FHC include editions and arrangements of many Stephen Foster songs as well as music by other composers. All are cataloged and entered in PITTCAT and OCLC.
The instrumental music scores include works for solo piano, piano duets and trios, organ, violin, violin and piano, cello and piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo, harp, wind and piano, other solo instruments, chamber ensemble, orchestral, and band. The Collection includes many anthologies of songs.
Bound Volumes of Sheet Music
The FHC contains 76 bound volumes of nineteenth-century music. All titles in the bound volumes are cataloged as individual scores and entered in PITTCAT and OCLC.
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