Hầu hết mọi người đều cho rằng sự thông minh tạo nên một nhà khoa học lớn. Nhưng họ đã lầm, chính nhân cách mới làm nên điều đó. (Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.)Albert Einstein
Người khôn ngoan chỉ nói khi có điều cần nói, kẻ ngu ngốc thì nói ra vì họ buộc phải nói. (Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. )Plato
Để đạt được thành công, trước hết chúng ta phải tin chắc là mình làm được. (In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.)Nikos Kazantzakis
Con tôi, tài sản tôi; người ngu sinh ưu não. Tự ta ta không có, con đâu tài sản đâu?Kinh Pháp Cú (Kệ số 62)
Đừng cố trở nên một người thành đạt, tốt hơn nên cố gắng trở thành một người có phẩm giá. (Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.)Albert Einstein
Con người chỉ mất ba năm để biết nói nhưng phải mất sáu mươi năm hoặc nhiều hơn để biết im lặng.Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn
Một số người mang lại niềm vui cho bất cứ nơi nào họ đến, một số người khác tạo ra niềm vui khi họ rời đi. (Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.)Oscar Wilde
Kẻ bi quan than phiền về hướng gió, người lạc quan chờ đợi gió đổi chiều, còn người thực tế thì điều chỉnh cánh buồm. (The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.)William Arthur Ward
Ðêm dài cho kẻ thức, đường dài cho kẻ mệt, luân hồi dài, kẻ ngu, không biết chơn diệu pháp.Kinh Pháp cú (Kệ số 60)
Để có đôi mắt đẹp, hãy chọn nhìn những điều tốt đẹp ở người khác; để có đôi môi đẹp, hãy nói ra toàn những lời tử tế, và để vững vàng trong cuộc sống, hãy bước đi với ý thức rằng bạn không bao giờ cô độc. (For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.)Audrey Hepburn
Trang chủTrang chủ »» Danh mục »» Trang luyện nghe tiếng Anh trực tuyến »» Đang nghe bài: Stephen Foster ? American Songwriter »»
««
»» Đang nghe bài: Stephen Foster ? American Songwriter
You are listening to the article: Stephen Foster ? American Songwriter
Listen and check your understanding by viewing the text.
» VIEW TEXT / HIDE TEXT « 
Before radio and television, movies and recordings, entertainment was often a family or
community matter. Someone in the family could play a musical instrument, or a
neighbourhood musician would play for small gatherings. In addition, there would be
travelling groups of musicians, actors and clowns who would go from town to town.
In nineteenth century United States, one of the most popular forms of entertainment was
the minstrel show. Black slavery was still permitted in the southern states until 1865.
Even after that date, the lives of many blacks working on large farms or plantations did
not change much. They did hard physical labour in the fields, had little control over their
lives, and very little time to relax with their friends. Foster, who was born in 1826, made
this situation the background for many of his songs.
White musicians would try to imagine the feelings of black men and women working on
the plantations. They would write songs in the dialect or speech patterns that they
thought black slaves used. In these songs, the black people would be talking about their
hardships, falling in love, playing music and dancing, and finally growing old and dying.
White performers would blacken their faces and sing these songs to white audiences.
They would play musical instruments, like the banjo, a small fourstringed guitar, which
black people played often.
As a small boy, Stephen Foster had sometimes been taken to a black church by his
family's black servant, Olivia Pise. Here he first heard the melodies that inspired his own
songs. Only a couple of Foster's songs are based directly on Negro spirituals; but
many of his songs have the natural simplicity and emotional power of folk songs.
The youngest member of a large family, Foster showed his musical talent at an early age.
He played the flute, violin, and piano. Growing up in an energetic business family,
Stephen was expected to become a businessman. And, for a while, he worked as a
bookkeeper. All his spare time, however, was spent writing songs.
Foster attended minstrel shows and tried to get the performers to sing his songs.
Sometimes the performers would steal his songs and publish them under their own
names. Copyright laws were weak and rarely enforced, so some music publishers would
just go ahead and publish a song without paying the songwriter. Since Foster hoped to
make a living as a songwriter, this was a problem.
Foster's first hit song was Oh! Susanna published in 1848. It became popular with the
thousands of men from all over the United States who were heading west to the
Californian goldrush of 1849. Unfortunately, as an unknown song writer, Foster received
no money from his early songs. He seems to have given them outright to the music
publishers, just to establish his reputation.
Foster's name, however, was soon widely known, and in 1849 he was able to afford to
give up bookkeeping, and marry the daughter of a Pittsburgh physician. During the next
five years, he earned a moderately good income from songwriting. In 1851, a daughter
Marion was born. Foster wrote many of his bestknown songs at this time Old Folks at
Home in 1851; My Old Kentucky Home in 1853, and Jeanie With the Light Brown
Hair in 1854.
Difficulties in Foster's marriage began fairly soon. These may have been partly due to his
strange work habits. He spent days locked in his room working on his songs. Then he
would rush out with his materials to the local music store, presumably to test out the
songs on his friends. He also became more and more addicted to alcohol. Eventually, his
wife and daughter left him. Foster died alone in a rooming house in 1864.
Immigrants to the United States brought their traditional folk songs with them. However,
there were very few typically American songs. Foster provided many songs that
expressed the life of nineteenth century U.S.A. His songs were easy to sing, and were
popular with nearly everyone. In a sense, Foster helped to create roots for American
popular music.
» CHOOSE LEVEL «
Quý vị đang truy cập từ IP 216.73.216.178 và chưa ghi danh hoặc đăng nhập trên máy tính này. Nếu là thành viên, quý vị chỉ cần đăng nhập một lần duy nhất trên thiết bị truy cập, bằng email và mật khẩu đã chọn.
Chúng tôi khuyến khích việc ghi danh thành viên ,để thuận tiện trong việc chia sẻ thông tin, chia sẻ kinh nghiệm sống giữa các thành viên, đồng thời quý vị cũng sẽ nhận được sự hỗ trợ kỹ thuật từ Ban Quản Trị trong quá trình sử dụng website này.
Việc ghi danh là hoàn toàn miễn phí và tự nguyện.
Ghi danh hoặc đăng nhập
Thành viên đang online:
Viên Hiếu Thành Huệ Lộc 1959 Bữu Phước Chúc Huy Minh Pháp Tự minh hung thich Diệu Âm Phúc Thành Phan Huy Triều Phạm Thiên Trương Quang Quý Johny Dinhvinh1964 Pascal Bui Vạn Phúc Giác Quý Trần Thị Huyền Chanhniem Forever NGUYỄN TRỌNG TÀI KỲ Dương Ngọc Cường Mr. Device Tri Huynh Thích Nguyên Mạnh Thích Quảng Ba T TH Tam Thien Tam Nguyễn Sĩ Long caokiem hoangquycong Lãn Tử Ton That Nguyen ngtieudao Lê Quốc Việt Du Miên Quang-Tu Vu phamthanh210 An Khang 63 zeus7777 Trương Ngọc Trân Diệu Tiến ... ...
... ...
Viên Hiếu Thành Huệ Lộc 1959 Bữu Phước Chúc Huy Minh Pháp Tự minh hung thich Diệu Âm Phúc Thành Phan Huy Triều Phạm Thiên Trương Quang Quý Johny Dinhvinh1964 Pascal Bui Vạn Phúc Giác Quý Trần Thị Huyền Chanhniem Forever NGUYỄN TRỌNG TÀI KỲ Dương Ngọc Cường Mr. Device Tri Huynh Thích Nguyên Mạnh Thích Quảng Ba T TH Tam Thien Tam Nguyễn Sĩ Long caokiem hoangquycong Lãn Tử Ton That Nguyen ngtieudao Lê Quốc Việt Du Miên Quang-Tu Vu phamthanh210 An Khang 63 zeus7777 Trương Ngọc Trân Diệu Tiến ... ... ... ...