Dream Lovers

Publication Information

(1898)

Text

Characters:

Torado, A *Mulatto Prince from Madagascar - Baritone

Manuel, His Friend - Tenor

Katherine, A *Quadroon Lady - Soprano

Martha, Her Sister - Contralto

* Asterisks denote terms no longer considered appropriate. They have been maintained in this archive to highlight the intent that the role be for singers of African descent.

Instrumentation: unknown

Duration: 25 minutes

Scenes:

1. Prelude

2. Is the Red Rose? (Soprano and Tenor)

3. You May Go to Bleak Alaska (Soprano, Contralto, Tenor)

4. Long Years Ago (Baritone)

5. Pray Tell Me (Soprano, Contralto)

6. I'm a Wealthy Wandering Wight (Baritone and Chorus)

7. Long, Long the Labour (Baritone, Tenor, Soprano, Contralto)

Synopsis

Manuel introduces his friend Katherine to his friend Torado, a high born man from Madagascar with the hopes that she is woman of Torado's dreams.
Upon meeting, they are both shocked to find that they are, indeed, dream lovers.

Biographical Information

(1875-1912) Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a composer and conductor trained and educated in England and lived in England all his life. He was exposed to Black culture through readings, research, and attending the annual London concerts of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. He was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African Mahler" when he toured the United States in the early 1900s. Entering the Royal College of Music at the age of 15, he was originally a violin major and piano minor, switching to composition and studying under Charles Villers Stanford. He became friends with Paul Laurence Dunbar when Dunbar visited England.


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