STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER

“Musical moments” can be moments of memories or reflection, a retrospect of the past or an anticipation of the future, that are enriched by hearing or thinking of a special piece of music in that same moment.

In this third Musical Moment, which we will continue every two weeks in a carefully curated series of works recorded by a different DG artist, we release Nadine Sierra’s performance of the American songwriter Stephen Foster’s serenade Beautiful Dreamer. Composed in 1864 Beautiful Dreamer is a so-called parlor song, here in a brand new arrangement by Bruce Coughlin. The beautiful sentimental ballad centers around a lover serenading a “Beautiful Dreamer” who is oblivious to worldly cares. Its calm and moody flow lent itself to be featured in various films and sung by many of the great singers such as Bing Crosby, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. It was just recently featured as theme song in the Netflix movie “Lost girls”.

Further artists in the series include Daniel Barenboim (already released), Yuja Wang (already released), Avi Avital, Albrecht Mayer and Hilary Hahn just to name a few.