| A Bayou Legend | |
|---|---|
| Opera by William Grant Still | |
 The composer in 1949, photographed by Carl Van Vechten | |
| Librettist | Verna Arvey |
| Language | English |
| Premiere | |
A Bayou Legend is an American opera composed by William Grant Still, with a libretto by his wife and frequent collaborator, Verna Arvey.
Set in a 20th-century Creole village in the Mississippi Delta, the opera focuses on the deadly revenge that the beautiful Clothilde enacts on Bazile, a handsome young man who does not return her expressions of love. When Clothilde discovers that Bazile has been in communication with Aurore, a spirit who identifies herself as Bazile's lover from a distant era, Clothilde threatens to have Bazile arrested for violating local religious customs. When Bazile continues to refuse to wed Clothilde, she arranges for a mob to have him lynched. In his death throes, however, Bazile's soul is united with Aurore; Clothilde lives out the remainder of her years as a bitter recluse.
Still composed A Bayou Legend in 1941, but it was not professionally staged until 1974, when Opera/South in Jackson, Mississippi presented its world premiere, 33 years later. The company revived the opera in 1976, and in 1979 collaborated with the Mississippi Educational Television Authority to create a made-for-television film version. However, post-production problems delayed its broadcast until June 15, 1981. [1] This marked the first time that an opera composed by an African American was broadcast on television. [2] Leonard de Paur served as the Musical Director and Conductor.
The opera was performed in 1976 in its West Coast Premier at East Los Angeles City College, featuring a mostly African-American professional cast, including Delcina Stevenson, conducted by Calvin Simmons, directed by Gary Fisher, and designed by Donald McAfee. This production shifted the time of the setting to the 1920s.
Daniel Cariaga's review of the opera's premiere for the Los Angeles Times described it as "joyously and disarmingly melodious, dramatically effective and beautifully crafted...an attractive and poignant work." [3]
Still's widow and author of the libretto, Verna Arvey, attended the Los Angeles production. She was given a plaque honoring William Grant Still and said that the production had fully embodied the spirit of her husband's work.[ citation needed ]
The New York Times review of the television production praised the opera as "simple but effective," and described the cast as "exceptionally handsome and talented." [4] The production received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction. To date, the televised production has not been commercially released on DVD.
| Role | Voice Type | Cast (1981 Television Broadcast) [5] |
|---|---|---|
| Aurore | Soprano | Carmen Balthrop |
| Bazile | Tenor | Gary Burgess |
| Leonce | Baritone | Peter Lightfoot |
| Clothilde | Soprano | Raeschelle Porter |
| Father Lestant | Bass | Cullen Maiden |
| Minstrel/First Blade | Francois Clemmons | |
| Second Blade | Irwin Reese | |
| Third Blade/MC | Ben Holt | |
| First Woman | Louise Clemons | |
| Second Woman | Glennye Robinson | |
| Third Woman | Dianne Wells | |
| Deacon | Benny Reeves | |
| Warden | Louis Beverly | |
| Second Man | James Hawkins |
William Grant Still Jr. was an American composer of nearly 200 works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works for solo instruments. Born in Mississippi, he grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and was a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and later, Edgard Varèse. Because of his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to have been part of the Harlem Renaissance.
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The Juggler of Our Lady is an opera in one act composed by Ulysses Kay to a libretto by Alexander King. The libretto is based on Robert O. Blechman's 1953 book The Juggler of Our Lady. A Medieval Legend. Composed in 1956, the opera premiered on 23 February 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana performed by the Xavier University Opera Workshop. It was performed again in 1972 by Opera/South in Jackson Mississippi in a double bill with William Grant Still's opera Highway 1, U.S.A.. The 1972 performance of both operas was also broadcast on Voice of America.
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Three Visions is a 1935 suite in three parts for solo piano, and later, the second part, Summerland, for chamber orchestra, by American composer William Grant Still. According to Judith Anne Still, the composer's daughter, "The three segments of the suite, Dark Horsemen, Summerland, and Radiant Pinnacle, tell the story of the human soul after death: the body expires, and the soul goes on to an apocalyptic judgment. If it is seen that the past life has been a good one, the soul may enter “heaven,” or “Summerland”. After a period of time, the soul may reincarnate to learn additional earthly lessons on the human plane. Some souls reincarnate many times in a constant circular progress toward Godly perfection." Three Visions was composed by Still for his wife, Verna Arvey, who first played the composition in Los Angeles in 1936. The suite is about eleven minutes long.
Kaintuck (Kentucky) is a 1935 symphonic poem for piano and orchestra by American composer William Grant Still. The work, commissioned by the League of Composers, and originally scored for piano and symphony orchestra, was first performed on two pianos, with the composer's wife, Verna Arvey, as soloist, in Los Angeles on October 28, 1935 at a Pro Musica concert. Since then, the work has been played in a full orchestra version by Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. The work, dedicated to Still's wife, is about eleven minutes long.
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