Edmond Dede was from New Orleans, where he learned, played and wrote music in his formative years. He moved to France in the mid 1800s and continued to write music and operas to make ends meet. He wrote his magnum opus, Morgiane, in France. The opera is about a bride who was abducted by a sultan. The bride’s mother, named Morgiane, tries to save her daughter by revealing a secret that may help free her.

Edmund died before ever realizing his vision of seeing his opera performed and introduced to the world. One hundred years later, a French music collector sold Dede’s two volume, 545 page manuscript to a music library at Harvard. Various music cataloguers and opera productions have worked to help bring this previously obscure musician’s work to the world.

They’re saying Morgiane may be the oldest opera that exists that was written by a Black American composer. The opera premiered in 2025! Boom.

Smithsonian Magazine has a good article with more information about Edmond Dede.

Here’s more info about the composer on Wikipedia.

One of the songs he wrote, “Mon Pauvre Coeur” (“My Poor Heart”), can be heard on YouTube.

Have you heard of Edmond Dede or his work before? I hadn’t, before the Smithsonian article.