Frederick Douglass Opera Program
*On this date in 1985, the world premiere of the opera 'Frederick Douglass' debuted. It is a full-length opera written and composed by Dorothy Rudd Moore.
It is 180 minutes in duration and has three acts. The world premiere occurred at City College of New York's Aaron Davis Hall. Opera Ebony commissioned the opera. Moore expressed that she chose to write the opera because Douglass had always interested her. She researched his life and wrote the libretto, the composition, and the orchestration for the work, which took eight years to complete.
The opera is based on his biography and is less dramatic than a "series of musical meditations on love, death, religion, political oppression, and eventual deliverance." The plot revolves around Douglass's second marriage, the collapse of the Freedman's Savings Bank, and his mission to Haiti. Moore's music contains elements of nineteenth-century melodies and Haitian folk music. The opera has a mixed-race cast and includes a ballet.
