My man's gone now

My Man's Gone Now
From "Porgy and Bess"
Music by George Gershwin, Words by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin
Anne Brown, soprano, with Eva Jessye Choir
Decca Symphony Orchestra directed by Alexander Smallens
Recorded May 15, 1940

From Act 2, Scene 1. In the opera, the aria is sung by Serena, the grieving widow, at her husband Robbins's wake. He has been murdered by Crown, the local pimp, during a crap game played in the courtyard of Catfish Row. In the original 1935 production, the role of Serena was played by Ruby Elzy.

George Gershwin's "American Folk Opera" Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway on October 10, 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression and closed after only 124 performances on January 25, 1936. In May 1940, Decca Records assembled some of the members of the original cast, including Todd Duncan and Anne Brown, who had played the title characters, for a recording session that produced a 78 rpm album of selections from the score.

Anne Wiggins Brown (born Annie Wiggins Brown August 9, 1912 - died March 13, 2009) was an African American soprano who created the role of "Bess" in the original production of George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess in 1935. She was also a radio and concert singer. She settled in Norway in her 30's and later became a Norwegian citizen.