William Foden was a guitarist and teacher whose works are mostly arrangements of hymn tunes, folk songs, and original pieces. For a time, he lived and taught in New York City. Foden's student and advocate, George C. Krick writes:
Foden's early compositions and arrangements for guitar show somewhat the influence of Mertz; in them we find frequent use of arpeggio movements and florid cadenzas of which the 'Fantasie on themes from Der Freischütz' and the 'Sextette from Lucia' are good examples. Many original compositions for guitar came from the pen of this prolific writer and aside from the numerous small pieces for teaching purposes there are quite a few that should be included in the repertoire of every player. 'Ballerina Valse' (solo or duet), 'Esperanza Mexican Dance', 'Grand Valse Caprice', 'Gavotte', 'Chevalier March' and 'Minuet in F' are of medium difficulty, quite melodious and thoroughly guitaristic. The most popular of Foden's works are perhaps his transcriptions of the old songs, such as 'Alice', 'Where Art Thou?', 'Annie Laurie', 'Old Black Joe', 'My Old Kentucky Home', and others. The list of these comprises several dozen and they are of similar construction - Introduction, theme, a number of variations and finale. In these transcriptions Foden shows great inventive genius, and they require an accomplished technique for their performance. Julio Martinez Oyanguren has included some of these in his recent radio broadcasts and letters on their reception have been highly complimentary.
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