Dominique-René de Lerma: Operas By Black Composers

Antonio de Assis Republicano (1897-1960)

Dominique-René de Lerma:

OPERAS BY BLACK COMPOSERS

This is extracted from one of several references in progress, designed to stimulate and facilitate research and education.

The works listed here are extended dramas with music by an identified single composer (exceptions noted) but not in the cases of inserted arias by a second figure, but do not presently include Singspiele and ballad operas (whose modern-day counterparts are termed "musicals").

The listing below cites the year of composition, rarely that of a first production.  It demonstrates the particular urge of the Black composer to create an extended musical work for the theater, too often without any assurance the time and energy expended -- not to mention the financial backing and other necessities not purely musical in nature -- will result in even one performance.

Of those most recently contacted (intentionally avoiding opera composers and performers) a few responmnded to questions regarding operas to which they had even only partly exposed in which they were interested, as well as works they had not heard or seen, but about which they were particularly curious.

Maria Corley expressed an interest in Richard Thompson's The mask in the mirror, and was familiar with Anthony Davis' X: The life and times of Malcolm X, both from the CD recording and  from having performed excepts at the Africabn the American Art Song Conference, convened by Darryl Taylor in ==.  Also at that conference she was attracted to Leslie Burrs' Yanqui, and Davis'  Amistad.

Sergio Mims regrets that Scott Joplin's A guest of honor appears not to be extant and indicated an interest in William Grant Still's Highway One U.S.A. and in the operas of Saint-Georges: Ernestine, L'amant anonyme, La fille garçon, Aline et Dupre, and Guillaume tout coeur ou les amis du village.  There is some controversy regarding the authenticity of some operas attributed to Saint-Georges, which we hope soon to address.

The opportunity to attend a recent production of one of these operas is, not surprisingly, rare: Highway One U.S.A. was produced in New York in ==, attended by James Levine.  Troubled island (William Grant Still) was staged in =- by the Southshore Opera Company in Chicago, but with piano, thus lacking the distinctive orchestral colors of the composer.    The New York City Opera (which gave  Troubled island its première in 19==) produced the formal première of X, with Ben Holt as Malcolm; he died before the CD recording was issued in ==, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago staged his Amistad.  .  Leslie Adams' Blake received several pre-production fanfares but the performance did not take place.  T.J. Anderson's Soldier boy, soldier was staged in Indiana in ==.  Dream lovers (Coleridge-Taylor) was given a concert performance at the 1982 Peabody-Morgan Symposium on Black Musical Theater, where the registrants also heard all of the extant music from Ernestine (Sasint-Georges).  In 1972, Atlanta gave Joplin's Treemonisha its first performance, so successful that T. J. Anderson's version (heard on PBS) was then taken over by Gunther Schuller for Houston, tour, and a VHS video.

One would have had to be at Milan's Teatro alla Scala to see the première of Il Gurandy by Gomes, although Plácido Domingo championed a CD in Bonn.  Puerto Ricans were able to attend Macias (Gutierrez) in its oremi`weere. 

Jubilee (Kay) was premiered by Opera South in ==, which company was responsible for the televised Bayou legend of Still.  Oba koso (Ladipo) toured the East Coast in ==, and also issued an LP of the work.  Euba's

In a like manner, there have been local one-night productions of other works -- for example, White's Ouanga in South Bend -- about which others rarely were alerted.

Adams, H. Leslie, 1932-

Blake (1986)

Adderley, Cannonball, 1928-1975

Big man (1975)

Akinwole, Obataiye B., fl. 1975

The road to freedom

Akpabot, Samuel. 1932-2000

Jaja of Opobo (1972)

Allen, Gilbert, 1918-ca. 1960

Steal away

Anderson, T. J., 1928-

Soldier boy, soldier (1979)

The shell fairy (1977)

Assis Republicano, Antonio de, 1897-1960

O bandeirante (1925)

A vida de Jesús (1937)

As Amazonas

O ermitão da gloria

Baker, David N., 1931-

Malcolm X (unfinished)

Banfield, William C.,  1961-

Fisherman's dock

Barbour, J. Bernie, 1881-1936

Oberlin maids (1918)

Bell, Charles Henderson, 1933-

Big-time selfish

The golden spook (1969)

The pied piper

The zoo

Billups, Kenneth, 1918-1985

Afro-American potpourri (1969)

All aboard S. S. Jack and Jill

Full steam ahead     

Three versions of the virgin birth

Bledsoe, Jules, 1898-1943

Bondage (1936)

Boatner, Edward, 1898-1981

Julie sees her

Bonds, Margaret, 1913-1972

Romey and Julie      

Shakespeare in Harlem

Brindis de Salas, Claudio José, 1800-1872

Las zongojas matrimoniales

Brown, J. Harold, 1902-

King Solomon (1951)

Burrs, Leslie Savoy, 1952-

A Black opera (1979)

Vanqui  (2005)

Buthelezi, Alexius, 1927-

Ihlahla

Nokhwezi

Ulindwe      

Unobhathakathi

Cervantes, Ignácio, 1847-1905

¡Maledetto! (1895)

El submarine Peral

Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel, 1875-1911

Dream lovers (1898)

Thelma (1908)

Cunningham, Arthur, 1928-1997

His natural grace (1969)

House by the sea (1966)

Lovey lovey (1968)

Ostrich feathers (1964)

Shango (1969)

Violetta (1963)

DaCosta, Noel, 1929-2002

A cocktail sip (1958)

Baba's juju (1974)

The singing tortoise (1971)

Davis, Anthony, 1951-

Amistad                      

Tanya (1992)

Under the double moon (1898)

X: The life and times of Malcolm X (1986)

Davis, Gussie Lord, 1864-1899

King Herod (1892)

Dédé, Edmond, 1827-1903

Après le miel (1880)

Chick-king-fo (1878)

L'abile de la chouette

L'anneau du diable

L'antropohage (1880)

Le grillon du foyer

Le noye

Le sultan d'Ispahan

Les étudiants borderlais

Une aventure de Telemanque

Dédé, Eugène Arcade, 1867- 1919

Deux jours (1909)

La manolita (1909)

Oncle et neveu

DuBois, Shirley Graham, 1906-1977

Little Black Sambo (1937)

Tom tom (1932)

Duncan, John, 1913-1975

Gideon and Eliza (1972)

The hellish banditi

Edwards, Leo D., 1937-

Harriet Tubman

El Dabh, Halim, 1921-

Opera flies (1971)

Ptah-mose and the magic spell (1973)

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

Beggar's holiday (1947)

Boola (unfinished)          

Chocolate kiddies (1925)

Jump for joy (1941)

Queenie Pie

Euba, Akin

Fax, Mark, 1911-1974

A Christmas miracle (1956)

Merry-go-round (1969)

Till victory is won (1966)

Fiberesima, Adam, 1926-

Orukoro (1968)

Opu-jaja (1973)

Fischer, William Samuel, 1935-

Jack Jack (1968)

Jesse (1966)

Simone Wilde

Touch-kiss

Fox, James Ingram, 1906-2005

Don Fodio, unhappy warrior

Freeman, Harry Lawrence, 1869-1954

An African kraal (1903)

An African romance (1927)

Athalia (1916)

Leah Kleschna (1931)

The flapper (1929)

The martyr (1893)

The octoroon (1904)

The plantation (1915)

The prophecy (1911)

The tryst (1909)

Uzziah (1934)

Vendetta (1923)

Voodoo (1914)

Zuluki (1898; original title Nada)

Zululand (1947)

Furman, James, 1937-1989

It's 11:59

Gomes, Antônio Carlos, 1836-1896

A noite do castelo (1861)

Cantico dos canticos

Celeste (unfinished)

Condor (1891)

Il Guarany (1870)

Joana de Flandres (1863)

La fosca (1873)

Lo schiavo (1889)

Moema (unfinished)

Nella luna (1868)

Ninon de Lenclos (unfinished)

Salvador Rosa (1874)

Se sa minga (1868)

Gutiérrez y Espinosa, Felipe, 1825-1899

El amor de un pescador (1857)

El bearnés (?)

Guarionez (1856)

La palma del Cacique (1856)

Macías (1871)

Hailstork, Adolphus

Hernández, Julio Alberto, 1909-1999

La ilusión que pasa

Hill, Andre, 1937-

The golden spook (1970)

Horton, Asadata Dafora, 1890-1965

Africa (1944)

Kykuntor (1934)

Zunguru (1940)

Johnson, J. Rosamond, 1873-1954

Tolosa, or the Royal document (1900)

Joplin, Scott, 1868-1917

A guest of honor (1903)

If (unfinished)

Treemonisha (1907)

Kay, Ulysses, 1917-1995

Jubilee (1976)

The boor (1955)

The Capitoline Venus (1969)

The juggler of Our Lady (1956)

King, Betty Jackson, 1928-1994

Saul of Taurus

Ladipo, Duro, 1931-1978

Be'  ti ò se

Eda

Moremi

Oba koso (1968)

Oba moro

Oba waja

Obatálá

Ogun

Lambert, Lucien Charles, 1828-1878

Brocéliande (1892)

La flamenca (1899)

La marseillaise (1900)

La penticosa (1908)

Sire Olof

Lambert, Lucien Léon Guillaume, 1858-1945

Le spahi (1897)

Lee, William J. E., 1928-

Baby sweets

One mile east

The depot (1972)

The quartet

León, Tania, 1943-

Carmencita (1978)

Scourge of hyacinths(2001)

Levister, Alonzo, 1925-

New faces of 1968

Slave song (1972, co-composed with Oscar Brown, Jr.)

The happy hypocrite

Lewis, John, 1920-2001

Mahalia 1978)

Lovingood, Penman, 1895-1993

Evangeline and Gabriel

Menelik (1964)

Mbabi-Katana, Solomon, fl. 1975

The marriage of Nyakata (1965)

McLin, Lena Johnson, 1929-

Bancroft

Budd Biliken

Jack and the bean

Moffat, Richard Cullen, 1927-1982

Cinderella

Rumpelstilskin

Montero, José Angel, 1839-1881

Virginia

Moore, Dorothy Rudd, 1940-

Frederick Douglass (1985)

Msomi, Welcome, 1943-

Umbatha

Nunes Garcia, José Mauricio, 1787-1830

Zemira (1803)

Le due gemelle

Nzewi, Emeka Meki, 1938-

Ogbunigwe (1968)

The lost finger (1970)

A drop of honey (1972

Mystery is illusion (1974)

The ordeal for regeneration (1980)

Ogunde, Hubert, 1916-1990

Yoruba rossee

Ogunmola, Kola, 1925-1973

Adììtú Olódumarè

Aìtète molé

Ajé kií gbé

Asejù

Asoorè má sikà

Baba ni baba njè

Bi kàa kúure kò ni súnunre

Eéfin niwà

Ehinòla

Eni a bíire

Enin olórun là

Eri okàn

Erù yatò fòmo

Hannah's trial

Hell on earth

Ifé Owó

Ijáfará léwu

Imú bori jé

Ipin a i sè

N'Ólóun ò pani obà kan kó le pani

Ofo ágbá

Ogbón ju agbára

Oja okùkùn

Ojú laari

Ológbón éwé

Olórum ló mola

Onún ojú wá lojúú ri

Orisa fé m pé méji

Reign of the mighty

Sùúru làbgá

The palm wine drinkard

Ogunyemi, Wale, 1939-

Qbalúayé

Pena Morell, Esteban, 1894-1939

Embrujo antellano (1928)

Perry, Julia, 1924-1979

The bottle

The cask of Amontillado (1954)

The selfish giant (1964)

Pittman, Evelyn LaRue, 1910-1992

Cousin Esther (1957)

Freedom's child (1972)

Price, John Elwood, 1935-1995

The other foot (1973)

Raphling, Sam, 1910-1988

Carry me back (1957)

President Lincoln (1962)

Rivers, Samuel, 1923-

Solomon and Sheba (1973, co-composed with Emory Taylor)

Saint- Georges, 1749-1799

Ernestine (1777)

Guillaume tout coeur (1790)

La chasse (1778)

La fille garçon (1787)

L'amant anonime (1780)

Le droit du seigneur (1784?)

Le marchand du marrons (1788)

Stallings, Lawrence, 1894-1968

Deep river  (1926)

Stewart, Ron, fl. 1960

Sambo (1969)

Still, William Grant, 1895-1978

A bayou legend (1941)

A southern interlude (1943)

Blue steel (1935)

Chloe

Costaso (1949)

Highway One, U.S.A. (1962)

Minette Fontaine (1958)

Mota (1951)

The pillar (1956)

Troubled island (1941)

Thompson, Richard, 1954-

The mask in the mirror (2012)

Urich, Jean, 1849-1939

Flora MacDonald (1885)

Hermann und Dorotea (1899)

Le carillon (1879)

Le cigale et la formi (1912)

Le pilote (1890)

L'orage (1879)

Tsing-Tau (1914)

White, Clarence Cameron, 1880-1960

Ouanga (1932)

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Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com


Comment by email:
Much needed comprehensive reference. I am very impressed with Los Angeles Opera educational programs (paid and volunteer staff) in homes, libraries and schools. Music education programs in our high schools, colleges, and universities along with major opera administrators, classical music radio host, and major media are progenitors of standard repertoire and unintentional suppressors of other contributions reflecting the diversity of our nation and world. Science does not support the notion of a superior race although some institutions including mainstream opera project unstated superiority with the usual visual exception. 

This is to suggest that organizations promoting diversity in opera should consider collaborating/partnering for a national effort to heighten awareness of neglected and little know compositions by composers of African descent and others along with open casting. 

I am not sure if African Americans, as a collective group, are regressing or progressing in awareness although current technology facilitate education and awareness on multiple levels. 

This is also to suggest a national dialogue to develop strategies for inclusion. As a former popular music concert promoter and current volunteer non-profit presenter of classical music, i do not think we can influence opera administrators and audiences without creating a visible box office demand for Black opera and open casting. A box office demand can not be accomplished without an African American awareness of benefits. What is the benefit to a new prospective African American audience? My first thought is personal identification with the story and/or character including events in actual history or fiction. Unfortunately, many African Americans view opera as irrelevant to their ethnicity and opera is an art form of European and "white America". John  [John Malveaux]