Familiar Songs - Their Authors & Histories

300 traditional songs, inc sheet music with full piano accompaniment & lyrics.

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	230	OUR FAMILIAR SONGS.
	STARS OF THE SUMMER NIGHT. These peculiarly melodious words are from Longfellow's " Spanish Student," and the air which suits them so finely, was written by Alfred H. Pease, one of the most suc­cessful of our American composers. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, about 1838, and when very young, manifested great love for music, and considerable power of producing it. Before he was six years old, he could play melodies upon the piano, with accuracy, impro­vising unique variations. Yet his friends were so opposed to his becoming a professional musician, that he was educated without reference to this inclination. At the age of eighteen he left college, and went to Europe for his health. His studies were completed in Germany, in whose musical atmosphere his ruling passion became so strong, that the consent of his parents was finally obtained, and he devoted himself to music under the most eminent masters. He composed the music of more than eighty songs, but is best known as a writer of opera and orchestral music, and as an accomplished pianist. He long resided in New York City, and died in St. Louis, July 13, 1882.
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