The Parlour Piano: American Popular Songs of the 1800s / Mesney, McPherson

Listening to this album is tantamount to pulling back the drapery and looking through a window into nineteenth-century America. Compiled and performed by Dorothy Mesney with music from pianist Mynon McPherson, the album captures the feeling with which the songs were originally performed around the parlour piano or in the music hall—from the gentle humor of “The Old Bachelor” to the touching beauty of songs like "Home Sweet Home," and "The Ship on Fire."