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
A Sailor's Song, Edward Margetson
A Song, Wynn Leo Boyd
A Song, Vicki Tucker Courtney
A Song, Simon Sargon
A Song op.31 no.1 (coloratura-soprano and piano), Robert Owens
A Spiritual (Op. 29a, no. 1), Byron Christopher Mayes
A Starry Night op.17 (high voice and piano), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
A Starry Night (SATB a cappella), Ulysses Simpson Kay
A Summer Night (medium voice or low voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
A Summer's Night, Philip Hayden
At Candle-lightin' Time (voice and piano), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
At Sunset Time (mezzo-soprano and string quartet), Antonio John Lora
At the Tavern (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
A Warm Day in Winter (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
Ballad (high voice and piano), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Beyond the Years (voice and piano), Theophil Wendt
Bird of My Lady's Bower (high voice and piano), David Stanley Smith
Chris'mus is a-Comin'., Evelyn McCue Wright
Chrismus Is A-Comin' (medium voice and piano), Gary Bachlund
Come Away to Dreaming Town (voice and piano), Charles Wakefield Cadman
Compensation, Carson P. Cooman
Compensation, Reginald Evans
Compensation, Betty Jackson King
Compensation (baritone, piano, and tape), Robert Di Domenica
Compensation (Jump Back), Simon Sargon
