There was a time when Stalin, at the peak of his power and terror, encouraged avant-garde Soviet composers to tour Europe and scare the bourgeoisie with ultra-modern, dissonant music celebrating the communist obsession with heavy industry.
But most of these composers sooner of later fell afoul of...

A fascinating document of Richard Strauss conducting one of his own most popular works in late Weimar-era Berlin. He was a highly un-theatrical conductor, standing very calmly and delivering the beat to the orchestra usually with one hand only. Some thought that conducting bored him, but at his b...

Private John Dinkins remembered this song as “Sallie Get Your Hoecake Done” when he and the men of the 18th Mississippi sang and marched to the Battle of Sharpsburg/Antietam. However, in 1840 it was published under its minstrel stage title as “Jenny Get Your Hoecake Done” by Firth & Hall in New Y...

This very successful minstrel song was written by Stephen Foster in 1847 and published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1848. It was performed and popularized by the renowned “Christy Minstrels” and has gone on to be considered one of the most popular American songs ever written. Because of t...

The composer of this popular minstrel song is only identified as “J. K.” The sheet music was first published in 1858 by Firth Pond and Co. of New York. During the War Between the States the song gained widespread popularity with Southern soldiers. It was the favorite marching song of General Jo...

“ The Boatman’s Dance” first appeared in print as a fiddle tune in George P. Knauff’s 1839 Virginia’s Reels, Volume IV, under the title “Ohio River.” The song is attributed to Daniel Decatur Emmett, a founder of the first troupe of minstrels, the “Virginia Minstrels.” He was born in Mount Vernon...

Words and music by Stephen Foster. This song, written in 1847, and composed when he was only 20, earned Foster his first payment - $100 cash - and has become one of his most enduring melodies. It was first performed in public by Foster himself at the Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylv...

Truly 'born on the 4th of July', Stephen Foster began his life in 1826 Pennsylvania. Though having a troubled and tragically brief life spanning only 37 years, Foster nevertheless wrote memorable words and melodies for over 200 songs.

Many of Foster's most well-known songs were created for the b...

Now literally 'world-famous', the song known as "Buffalo Gals" is generally credited to one John Hodges (1821-1891), whose minstrel-stage character was called "Cool White." However, that name is only its last name, established after its 1848 publishing by the minstrel group, the Ethiopian Serenad...

"Kingdom Coming" (a.k.a. "Year of Jubilo"), words and music by Henry Clay Work (1832-1884), published by Chicago's George Root & Cady in 1862, became one of the most popular and memorable songs to emerge during the American Civil War. Though the song is decidedly pro-Union, it was often heard bei...

Max Steiner was the father of film music as we know it. This item is particularly for my father, who became a devotee of cinematic scoring long before it was fashionable, especially the music of Max. These three pictures offer a good cross-section of his work; he also scored such disparate classi...

Max Steiner was the father of film music as we know it. This item is particularly for my father, who became a devotee of cinematic scoring long before it was fashionable, especially the music of Max. These three pictures offer a good cross-section of his work; he also scored such disparate classi...

First referred to as “Miss MacLeod’s Reel” by a foreigner visiting Connacht, Ireland, in 1779, who wrote about taking part in a dance where the prize was a cake, or possibly heard as one of several pieces played by pipers in Galway. Either way, the tune stuck and became better known as simply “Mc...

Pvt. John Dinkins, Co.C, 18th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, described the march toward Sharpsburg in September of 1862, of McLaw's Division, which included Co. I, 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Dinkins recalled, "The men moved along at a lively gait. As night came on, we sang all kinds ...

This 1860 Stephen Foster 'plantation melody' was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. The song’s title is derived from the name of a 425 ton side-wheel packet steamer, the “Glendy Burke.” She was owned by the Vicksburg, Mississippi firm of Cobb & Nanlove, and plied the Ohio and Mississipp...

The origin of this folk song is debatable. “The Girl I Left Behind Me” is claimed by both England and Ireland. It is said to date to the mid-1700s or even possibly back to the 1600s. The earliest known publication in print that lists the title and lyrics dates to 1791 in “The Charms of Melody,” D...

This nonsense song ranks with "Oh! Susanna" as one of Foster's best. Not especially popular in its early days, "Camptown Races" earned Foster royalties of only $101.25 in its first seven years (representing a total sales of 5,000 copies at two cents apiece). Debuted by the ubiquitous Christy Mins...

The Appalachian folk melody was a favorite of mountain fiddlers and banjo players known as “The Gospel Train (Get on Board)”. “Cindy”, also known as “Get Along Home, Cindy”, using the tune from “The Gospel Train”, first appears as a North Carolina folk song in a book of collected folk tales by An...