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
We Wear the Mask (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
We Wear the Mask (soprano and piano), Richard Thompson
What's the Use?, Florence Beatrice Price
What's the Use? (high voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
When A Feller's Itchin' to be Spanked (baritone and piano), Gary Bachlund
When All Is Done (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
When All Is Done (voice and piano), Wynn Leo Boyd
When Malindy Sings, Lennie Niehaus
Where Healing Waters Flow (SATB chorus a cappella), Matthew Emery
Where the Rainbow Ends, Philip Hayden
Whip-Poor-Will and Katy-Did (mezzo-soprano and piano), Gary Bachlund
Who Knows?, Ernest R. Ball
Why Fades a Dream?, Wynn L. Boyd
Why Fades a Dream? (medium-high voice and piano), Marie F. Busch
Why Fades a Dream? (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
Why Fades a Dream? (voice and piano), Wynn Leo Boyd
Winter's Approach (high voice and piano), William Grant Still
