Samuel Coleridge Taylor is today almost completely forgotten. However he was, at the turn of the Century one of Britain's most outstanding Composers. His parents were African and English and Samuel was born in Holborn on August 15 1875. He excelled at the violin but late changed his studies to composition. After he graduated he went on to teach music at Trinity College London and at the Rochester Choral Society. At the age of 22 he achieved fame by composing his most famous work: Hiawatha's wedding feast. This piece of music was described by the royal college of music as 'One of the most remarkable events in English musical history'. He was appointed a professor at the Crystal palace School of Music and Art, he also conducted the Croydon conservatory orchestra and the Bournemouth symphony. He was also actively involved in promoting the cause of Black people worlrdwide. He frequently travelled to America where he held workshops for black musiciancs and composers. The Pan -Africanist Duse Mohammed was amongst his friends and together they founded The African and Orient Review, a Pan- Africanist newspaper in London. Today there has been a resurgence of interest in the works of this great and interesting man. He died in 1912 aged just 37. |