Tenor Roland Hayes

Roland Hayes (1887-1977)
N'Goni: A Lament. An East [African
Native Song of Nyasaland]
Page 2
Holograph manuscript, 1957
Music Division
Copyright deposit, 1959 (156.4 )

Roland Hayes, born in Curryville, Georgia, in 1887, was the principal African American tenor performing classical music during the first half of the twentieth century. Primarily a recitalist rather than an operatic tenor, Hayes sang both the great European repertory and the repertory of African American spirituals. He also served as an arranger and showed keen interest in African folk songs, including this east African lament from Nyasaland (now Malawi).