The Dunbar Music Archive was established by Dr. Minnita Daniel-Cox in 2014. This resource is meant to increase awareness and consumption of musical settings of texts by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar the poet, author, librettist, activist, and essayist was a seminal figure in establishing a poetic voice that would influence African-American poets for generations, including those responsible for the blossoming of the Harlem Renaissance.
For translation and pronunciation information for dialect terms used in Dunbar's poetry, see the Dunbar Glossary of Dialect Terms.
This collection was produced by University of Dayton's Department of Music, the University Libraries and the University of Dayton's media production group.
The Dunbar Music Archive will be expanding through generous funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences. Please explore the contents of this collection and stay tuned for the launch of the Dunbar Library and Archive.
Musical Settings
Theology (medium voice or high voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
The Plantation Child's Lullaby (Op. 29a, no. 4), Byron Christopher Mayes
The Poet, Steven M. Allen (Streaming Media Available)
The Real Question (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
The Rising of the Storm (low voice and piano), David Stanley Smith
The River of Ruin (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
The Sand-Man (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
The Secret (coloratura-soprano and piano), Robert Owens
The Secret (high voice and piano), Robert Owens
The Sparrow op.31 no.3 (coloratura-soprano and piano), Robert Owens
The Sum (low voice or medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
The Valse, C. Koerner
Time to Tinker 'Roun'., Evelyn McCue Wright
To the Road!, Leslie Adams
Treat Me Nice, John Alden Carpenter
Trouble in de Kitchen (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
Tu'ky Song, Evelyn McCue Wright
Twell de Night is Pas' (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
Two Little Boots (Op 29a, no 2.), Byron Christopher Mayes
Uncle Eph's Christmas, Will Marion Cook and William Marion Cook
Vengeance is Sweet (baritone or bass and piano), Gary Bachlund
Violets and Other Tales, Steven M. Allen (Streaming Media Available)
W'en I Gits Home (Op. 29a, no. 5), Byron Christopher Mayes
We Wear the Mask, Reginald Evans
We Wear the Mask, Phillip Magnuson
