Acknowledgments

Chronology

Introduction

A Note on the Text

Operas

Troubled Island: An Opera in Three Acts (1937, 1949)

The Organizer: A Blues Opera in One Act (1940)

The Barrier: An Opera (1950)

Esther: Opera in Three Acts (1956)

Port Town: An Opera in One Act (1960)

Musicals

Tropics after Dark (1940)

Simply Heavenly: A Comedy (1957)

Mister Jazz: A Panorama in Music and Motion of the History of Negro Dancing (1960)

Jericho-Jim Crow: A Song Play (1963)

Tambourines to Glory: A Comedy (1963)

Gospel Plays

Black Nativity: A Gospel Song-Play for a Variable Cast (1961, 1992)

The Gospel Glow: A Passion Play (1962)

Master of Miracles: A Gospel Song-Play Based on the Bible and the Negro Spirituals (1962)

The Prodigal Son: A Song-Play with Traditional Spirituals, Gospel Hymns, and Songs Illuminating the Bible Story Retold (1965)

Miscellaneous Plays

For This We Fight (1943)

The Ballot and Me: The Negro's Part in Suffrage, An Historical Sequence (1956)

Radio Plays

Booker T. Washington in Atlanta (1940)

Brothers (1942)

Pvt. Jim Crow: A Radio Script (1943)

In the Service of My Country (1944)

Ballet Librettos

The Amazon Queen: A Ballet Libretto (1941)

The Saint Louis Blues: A Ballet Libretto Based on the Famous American Classic by W.C. Handy (1941)

Blues to Be-bop Ballet (1951)

Two Brothers / Dos Hermanos: A Ballet (1953)

Ask Your Mama: A Dance Sequence for a Man, a Woman, and Two Narrators (1961)

Bessie Smith Descends (1961)

Carmelita and the Cockatoo: A Ballet Libretto (Date Unknown)

The Conga Ends: A Ballet Libretto (Date Unknown)

Lyrics from Musicals

Street Scene (1947)

Just around the Corner: A Musical Comedy (1950)

Cantatas

The Five Foolish Virgins (1953)

Godly Is the House of God: A Song for the Dedication and Daily Rededication of a Church (1955)

The Glory around His Head: A Cantata of the Resurrection (1957)

Ballad of the Brown King: A Christmas Carol (1960)

Let Us Remember (1965)

Lyrics

Notes

Permissions