''Singin' Billy: A Folk Opera'' is a 1952 opera composed by Charles F. Bryan from a libretto by Donald Davidson. The narrative is loosely based on the life of the singing school teacher William Walker (1809–1875), who compiled the 1835 tunebook '' Southern Harmony''. In the opera, Walker's virtue is contrasted with the corruption of Kinch Hardy, a local trouble maker in the fictional Oconee Town in Pickens County,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Walker had caught the attention of Southern folklorists and musicologists in 1933, when George Pullen Jackson, a friend and colleague of Davidson at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, had covered him in his book ''White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands''. The opera includes five hymns from ''Southern Harmony''.

Performance history

The premiere took place at the

Theater on April 23, 1952. The production ran until April 28 and starred a cast from the Vanderbilt Theater and the music department of

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee ...

. The libretto was published by The Foundation for American Education in 1985.

Roles

References

{{Reflist 1952 operas English-language operas Operas Operas set in the United States South Carolina in fiction Works by Donald Davidson (poet) Works set in the 19th century Folk operas