More Reminiscences from George C. Cooper (1920)

Abstract In his biography of composer Stephen C. Foster, Harold Vincent Milligan recorded reminiscences of the songwriter offered by his friend George C. Cooper, who knew Foster during the composer’s last years in New York. Many of Cooper’s remembrances echo an earlier writing by Cooper for Piano Music Magazine that had been published in 1902. He recalls the songwriter’s compositional and publishing habits and retells a story about their first collaboration, “Willie Has Gone to the War,” for which Cooper wrote the lyrics and Foster the melody. He adds to his earlier account, however, by describing the wintry day on which they wrote the song and recalling that Foster had holes in his shoes and no overcoat. Cooper also reveals that Foster called him “the left wing of the song factory.” Milligan also quotes Cooper’s words about the circumstances of Foster’s death. Christopher Lynch provides an introduction and annotations with notes and corrections, revealing that Milligan was selective in what he chose to include from Cooper in his biography. He omitted, for example, that Milligan had written to him that he believed Foster opposed emancipation during the Civil War.