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Stephen Wins Success 89
announcement of November 1, 1847, that "Mr. Kneass, the popular leader of the Opera Troupe which has Deen performing at the Melodeon, intends opening a school for musical instruction in our city."11 Kneass joined the Cincinnati musical group and Peters & Field brought out his "Ben Bolt"12 and several other compositions.
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We know that Stephen's first manuscripts submitted to Peters & Field in 1847 were not Ethiopian melodies but the "style of music" for which he was ambitious to be known by his Cincinnati friends and acquaintances. His bow to the local public was made in this fashion. Several years before, he had composed music to the words of a poem "Open Thy Lattice, Love/' which he read in the New Mirror, a New York weekly; and in December 1844, the song had been brought out by the Philadelphia publisher, George Willig.13 The title-page^ of this, Stephen's first vocal composition, carried his dedication of it "to Miss Susan E. Pent-land of Pittsburgh." Alas for the youthful composer, the printer had made a typographical mistake with his name; it appeared as "L. C. Foster."13
So Stephen, possibly still nettled by the misspelling and certainly eager to join the local hall of musicianly fame, permitted the publication of "Open Thy Lattice, Love" anew. His friend, W. C. Peters, evidently purchased |
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