~~~~~Composer Biography~~~~~ Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an Afro-British composer who wrote in a tonal, Romantic style. His output includes 82 published opuses, comprising chamber works; cantatas; orchestral works; songs; a violin concerto; and works for violin and piano, as well as solo piano. Coleridge-Taylor's father, Daniel Taylor, was a doctor from Sierra Leone whose ancestors were at one time enslaved people in the Thirteen Colonies whom the British freed and repatriated to Africa. His mother, Alice Hare Martin, was a white Englishwoman. As the elder Taylor left England without knowing he had a son, Coleridge-Taylor grew up with his mother and her family in Croydon, just south of London. He started learning the violin from his grandfather on a mini-sized fiddle they had at home. Later, he took lessons from a local musician named Joseph Beckwith, and sang in choirs with a much-praised boy soprano voice. At the age of 15, Coleridge-Taylor entered the Royal College of Music as a violin student, with a minor in piano. Soon he switched his primary focus to composition, having had some music published already. His composition teacher was Charles Villiers Stanford, who also taught Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a host of other notable English composers. (In this writer's opinion, Coleridge-Taylor belongs in that category as well.) Coleridge-Taylor met with considerable success, having been recognized by some of England’s most eminent composers. In 1898, the Three Choirs Festival wrote to the composer Edward Elgar to commission an orchestral work. Elgar declined the offer, but recommended that Coleridge-Taylor take up the offer, saying that he was "far away the cleverest fellow going amongst the young men [composers in England]." Coleridge-Taylor accepted it and composed his Ballade for Orchestra, op. 33. That same year, he completed what would become his most famous work, the spirited cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, with text from Longfellow's epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha." The premiere was attended by another famous composer - Sir Arthur Sullivan, who wrote in his diary, "Much impressed by the lad's genius. He [Coleridge-Taylor] is a composer, not a music-maker." Around then, Coleridge-Taylor also began to write music influenced by his African identity. He corresponded with African-Americans in the United States, including members of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Society, a choral society in Washington D.C. named after him. W.E.B. DuBois, the famous writer on African-American social issues and civil rights, commended him as well. Coleridge-Taylor toured the United States twice and met President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House - a rare honor, especially given the deep divide between Black and White Americans. Back in England, Coleridge-Taylor’s works would be performed in some of the country’s grandest venues, including the Queen's Hall and Royal Albert Hall. He continued to compose prolifically for various combinations of instruments, including piano solo (see his 24 Negro Melodies op. 59, which are settings of African songs and African-American spirituals); full orchestra (see his Symphonic Variations on an African Theme [the spiritual “I’m Troubled in Mind,” op. 63); and SATB (see his part-song Summer Is Gone, published in 1910 without opus number). Rather unjustly, Coleridge-Taylor's renown and prolific output did not grant him financial stability. He did not receive royalties for many of his works, including Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, which would have yielded a considerable fortune. A main source of income came from his post as conductor of the Croydon Conservatoire's orchestra. He also traveled throughout England as a conductor and judge at music festivals. As a result, Coleridge-Taylor found little time for rest, and this may have led to his untimely death at the age of 37 from pneumonia, not long after he revised his thoroughly striking Violin Concerto. With his wife and fellow RCM graduate Jessie Walmisley, Coleridge-Taylor had two children: a son Hiawatha and a daughter Avril (originally Gwendolen; she changed her name later in life). Both children had distinguished musical careers of their own; Hiawatha was a conductor and Avril was a composer as well as conductor. Despite financial stresses and overwork, Coleridge-Taylor said the following about his life: "I have been very happy in my surroundings all my life, first in my mother and then in my marriage. Even without any moderate success, I think I should have been one of those rare beings - a happy man." ~~~~~About This Piece~~~~~ A ballade is a piece of music that details an often epic or heroic narrative. While Coleridge-Taylor does not specify any sort of story to accompany his Ballade, listeners might very well be free to imagine one. Below are some moments in the piece that could signify important plot points. 0:10 - The piece begins with a slow introduction. The piano’s bass-heavy chords set the scene, and the violin's melody suggests sadness or fear. Frequent half-cadences (stopping on an “uncertain”-sounding chord) and changing harmonies (circle-of-fifths sequences) add to this mood. 1:40 - The violin and piano alternate, with the violin playing a short, slightly agitated motif, and the piano replying with staccato triplets. 2:57 - The violin starts a new phrase with sixteenth-note triplets that propel upwards. Perhaps the hero is catching the listeners up on what has happened, expressing their fears more openly. This section makes way for some pedal points - repeated bass notes in the piano part - at 3:18, at which the violin is instructed to play appassionato, or passionately. Things die down, and the violin’s fast triplets return before landing on another half cadence, after which the piano gets the last word. 4:30 - This section is marked Allegro, signaling a change in pace from slow to fast. The violin part alternates between frantic, anxious sixteenth notes and lamenting phrases (marked lentamente - slowly). Coleridge-Taylor brings the music into various key areas, including A minor, D minor, D-flat major, and E-flat major. 5:49 - Here, the anxiety of the Allegro is resolved, as the tempo becomes slower and calmer (più andante e tranquillo). Coleridge-Taylor then creates an extremely surprising, enchanting contrast in the key of E major. The violin’s resting on a high E is perhaps a highlight of the entire Ballade - a thoroughly unexpected but pleasant surprise. As the violin reintroduces a version of the piece’s opening theme with the piano softly accompanying, uncertainty seems to set in again. 7:36 - The music becomes frenetic again, with plenty of forward motion defined again by the violin’s relentlessly rising sixteenth notes. The piano also takes part with a descending flourish. A more subdued interlude begins at 8:15 in this recording, only to return to the same frenzied music at 8:46. Lovers of Grieg’s music may detect its possible influence on Coleridge-Taylor here; to this author, the second movement of Grieg's Violin Sonata no. 3 comes to mind (particularly here: ruclips.net/video/iwTZoiRvp1U/видео.html). 9:18 - A lyrical melody and sparkling piano accompaniment suggest greater calm; however, Coleridge-Taylor keeps the music unresolved. The violin eventually arrives on a sustained high note played fortissimo, which one may find to be another highlight of this Ballade, full of Romantic lyricism and loving nostalgia. After this, the violin introduces a melancholic melody in double stops, supported again by the piano’s upper register. 13:11 - The coda. The piano begins with a stately, march-like refrain, before the violin returns with part of the “frenetic theme” from 7:36, this time in C major. With that, Coleridge-Taylor builds the music up to a triumphant close. Sources: 1. Tortolano, William. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Anglo-Black Composer, 1875-1912. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002. *Note: These program notes are the result of many hours of reading, listening, writing, and editing. Please do not reproduce them without crediting us. ~~~~~ Post Script ~~~~~ In the uploaders' opinion, this recording by Nokuthula Ngwenyama (violin) and Mihae Lee (piano) is exceptional for the drama, lyricism, and dynamism that both performers evoke!
It's a shame that his music isn't performed anything like as much as it was in the early 1900s. He does show incredible dexterity it his writing!
~~~~~Composer Biography~~~~~
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an Afro-British composer who wrote in a tonal, Romantic style. His output includes 82 published opuses, comprising chamber works; cantatas; orchestral works; songs; a violin concerto; and works for violin and piano, as well as solo piano.
Coleridge-Taylor's father, Daniel Taylor, was a doctor from Sierra Leone whose ancestors were at one time enslaved people in the Thirteen Colonies whom the British freed and repatriated to Africa. His mother, Alice Hare Martin, was a white Englishwoman. As the elder Taylor left England without knowing he had a son, Coleridge-Taylor grew up with his mother and her family in Croydon, just south of London. He started learning the violin from his grandfather on a mini-sized fiddle they had at home. Later, he took lessons from a local musician named Joseph Beckwith, and sang in choirs with a much-praised boy soprano voice. At the age of 15, Coleridge-Taylor entered the Royal College of Music as a violin student, with a minor in piano. Soon he switched his primary focus to composition, having had some music published already. His composition teacher was Charles Villiers Stanford, who also taught Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a host of other notable English composers. (In this writer's opinion, Coleridge-Taylor belongs in that category as well.)
Coleridge-Taylor met with considerable success, having been recognized by some of England’s most eminent composers. In 1898, the Three Choirs Festival wrote to the composer Edward Elgar to commission an orchestral work. Elgar declined the offer, but recommended that Coleridge-Taylor take up the offer, saying that he was "far away the cleverest fellow going amongst the young men [composers in England]." Coleridge-Taylor accepted it and composed his Ballade for Orchestra, op. 33. That same year, he completed what would become his most famous work, the spirited cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, with text from Longfellow's epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha." The premiere was attended by another famous composer - Sir Arthur Sullivan, who wrote in his diary, "Much impressed by the lad's genius. He [Coleridge-Taylor] is a composer, not a music-maker."
Around then, Coleridge-Taylor also began to write music influenced by his African identity. He corresponded with African-Americans in the United States, including members of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Society, a choral society in Washington D.C. named after him. W.E.B. DuBois, the famous writer on African-American social issues and civil rights, commended him as well. Coleridge-Taylor toured the United States twice and met President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House - a rare honor, especially given the deep divide between Black and White Americans. Back in England, Coleridge-Taylor’s works would be performed in some of the country’s grandest venues, including the Queen's Hall and Royal Albert Hall. He continued to compose prolifically for various combinations of instruments, including piano solo (see his 24 Negro Melodies op. 59, which are settings of African songs and African-American spirituals); full orchestra (see his Symphonic Variations on an African Theme [the spiritual “I’m Troubled in Mind,” op. 63); and SATB (see his part-song Summer Is Gone, published in 1910 without opus number).
Rather unjustly, Coleridge-Taylor's renown and prolific output did not grant him financial stability. He did not receive royalties for many of his works, including Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, which would have yielded a considerable fortune. A main source of income came from his post as conductor of the Croydon Conservatoire's orchestra. He also traveled throughout England as a conductor and judge at music festivals. As a result, Coleridge-Taylor found little time for rest, and this may have led to his untimely death at the age of 37 from pneumonia, not long after he revised his thoroughly striking Violin Concerto. With his wife and fellow RCM graduate Jessie Walmisley, Coleridge-Taylor had two children: a son Hiawatha and a daughter Avril (originally Gwendolen; she changed her name later in life). Both children had distinguished musical careers of their own; Hiawatha was a conductor and Avril was a composer as well as conductor.
Despite financial stresses and overwork, Coleridge-Taylor said the following about his life: "I have been very happy in my surroundings all my life, first in my mother and then in my marriage. Even without any moderate success, I think I should have been one of those rare beings - a happy man."
~~~~~About This Piece~~~~~
A ballade is a piece of music that details an often epic or heroic narrative. While Coleridge-Taylor does not specify any sort of story to accompany his Ballade, listeners might very well be free to imagine one. Below are some moments in the piece that could signify important plot points.
0:10 - The piece begins with a slow introduction. The piano’s bass-heavy chords set the scene, and the violin's melody suggests sadness or fear. Frequent half-cadences (stopping on an “uncertain”-sounding chord) and changing harmonies (circle-of-fifths sequences) add to this mood.
1:40 - The violin and piano alternate, with the violin playing a short, slightly agitated motif, and the piano replying with staccato triplets.
2:57 - The violin starts a new phrase with sixteenth-note triplets that propel upwards. Perhaps the hero is catching the listeners up on what has happened, expressing their fears more openly. This section makes way for some pedal points - repeated bass notes in the piano part - at 3:18, at which the violin is instructed to play appassionato, or passionately. Things die down, and the violin’s fast triplets return before landing on another half cadence, after which the piano gets the last word.
4:30 - This section is marked Allegro, signaling a change in pace from slow to fast. The violin part alternates between frantic, anxious sixteenth notes and lamenting phrases (marked lentamente - slowly). Coleridge-Taylor brings the music into various key areas, including A minor, D minor, D-flat major, and E-flat major.
5:49 - Here, the anxiety of the Allegro is resolved, as the tempo becomes slower and calmer (più andante e tranquillo). Coleridge-Taylor then creates an extremely surprising, enchanting contrast in the key of E major. The violin’s resting on a high E is perhaps a highlight of the entire Ballade - a thoroughly unexpected but pleasant surprise. As the violin reintroduces a version of the piece’s opening theme with the piano softly accompanying, uncertainty seems to set in again.
7:36 - The music becomes frenetic again, with plenty of forward motion defined again by the violin’s relentlessly rising sixteenth notes. The piano also takes part with a descending flourish. A more subdued interlude begins at 8:15 in this recording, only to return to the same frenzied music at 8:46. Lovers of Grieg’s music may detect its possible influence on Coleridge-Taylor here; to this author, the second movement of Grieg's Violin Sonata no. 3 comes to mind (particularly here: ruclips.net/video/iwTZoiRvp1U/видео.html).
9:18 - A lyrical melody and sparkling piano accompaniment suggest greater calm; however, Coleridge-Taylor keeps the music unresolved. The violin eventually arrives on a sustained high note played fortissimo, which one may find to be another highlight of this Ballade, full of Romantic lyricism and loving nostalgia. After this, the violin introduces a melancholic melody in double stops, supported again by the piano’s upper register.
13:11 - The coda. The piano begins with a stately, march-like refrain, before the violin returns with part of the “frenetic theme” from 7:36, this time in C major. With that, Coleridge-Taylor builds the music up to a triumphant close.
Sources:
1. Tortolano, William. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Anglo-Black Composer, 1875-1912. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002.
*Note: These program notes are the result of many hours of reading, listening, writing, and editing. Please do not reproduce them without crediting us.
~~~~~ Post Script ~~~~~
In the uploaders' opinion, this recording by Nokuthula Ngwenyama (violin) and Mihae Lee (piano) is exceptional for the drama, lyricism, and dynamism that both performers evoke!
All I can say is God bless, and thank you for sharing this with us
@@cminor3016 Thank you for your kind comment!
One of my favorite pieces. Always brings me to tears how beautiful it is ❤️
Truly lovely playing.
Agreed! By the way, I very much enjoy your playing of Coleridge-Taylor's works too.
@@opus-43 Thanks!
Most important legacies in the continuing legacy of classical music into future generations
Samuel Coleridge Taylor