Today in Music History - Jan. 13
The Canadian Press
2021-01-13
Today in Music History for Jan. 13:
In 1501, Christianity's first vernacular hymnal was printed in Prague, capital of the present-day Czech Republic. It contained 89 hymns in the Czech language.
In 1854, a patent for the accordion was issued to Anthony Faax of Philadelphia.
In 1864, Stephen Foster, one of the first composers of pop music, died in a New York City hospital after falling over a wash basin in a drunken stupor. In his pocket when he died was the manuscript for what became one of his most famous songs, "Beautiful Dreamer." Many of his songs -- including "Oh! Susanna," "Camptown Races" and "Old Black Joe" -- are written in black dialect. Foster gained much of his knowledge of blacks through his early experience in travelling minstrel shows. But he became embarrassed by his songs, primarily because of a contemporary review which called them "only skin deep, hummed and whistled without musical emotion." Stephen Foster also had little aptitude for business. Extreme poverty, coupled with excessive drinking, ruined his last years.