In an entertaining interview by John Schafer, Thomas Hampson waxes enthusiastic about American song and why this music is important. MP3 here.
Two facts I didn't know:
- Stephen Foster lived a "desolate" life. Wikipedia: He had been impoverished while living at the North American Hotel at 30 Bowery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (possessing exactly 38 cents) when he died. In his pocket was a scrap of paper with only the enigmatic, "dear friends and gentle hearts", written on it.
- Composer and immigrant Kurt Weill wanted his name pronounced "wile" not "vile."
I think of Foster as being a genteel Kentuckian. And my recollection is of anti-German sentiment peaking in the US during World War I, for example, when this Indiana town tried to change its name from East Germantown to Pershing. I can't say what the atmosphere was like when Weill arrived in 1935 prior to the US entry into WW II. But, I suspect his shedding of origin was of his own volition.
"hard times come again no more" on napster (unfortunately, u.s. only): thomas hampson renee fleming kate & anna mcgarrigle and family mavis staples
the dog's name: "lenny"
recent countries visiting aworks: germany, japan, russia, china, taiwan, "satellite provider," saint lucia, italy, czech republic, algeria, jordan, israel, venezuela, serbia & montenegro, vietnam
I saw a terrific documentary on Foster produced by NPR a year or two ago. I too was shocked at the poverty in which Foster lived his later years. His song "Hard Times Come Again No More" takes on such a tragic poignance when you know that. He wasn't pretending.
Posted by: Davei | June 02, 2006 at 11:20 PM