Composer of the Week: Coleridge-Taylor

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

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An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912): Going Up

Going Up

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), Going Up

Donald Macleod follows Coleridge-Taylor’s first steps up the musical ladder.

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – today, following Samuel’s first steps up the musical ladder, as he shows the world what he’s capable of.

Donald Macleod follows Coleridge-Taylor’s first steps up the musical ladder.

At the turn of the 20th century, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor could have been described as the most famous Black person in Britain. His cantata trilogy, the Song of Hiawatha, was an overnight success, and by the age of 25 he had packed out the Royal Albert Hall with a thousand performers, let alone the audience. His fame took him all around Britain and America as choral societies from Worcester to Washington DC all wanted to sing his music, and Coleridge-Taylor became a role-model, especially for African Americans. But tragically, just over a decade later, he would be dead. He remained a household name into the 1930s, only for his flame to flicker out much sooner than he deserved. All this week, Donald re-visits his fascinating story, with recordings predominantly released in the last five years, showing how excited today's performers are to rediscover his delightful music. 

Today, Donald puts us in the shoes of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor as he was growing up. The young composer was used to turning heads - not only was he a mixed-race boy being raised in a white family with an absent father – he was the only boy in his school to play an instrument, and his musical talent was plain to see. But when he had to leave school at 13 to get a job, what would become of him now?

Going Up
Harold Wright, piano

Fantasiestucke, Op 5 (Serenade and Humoresque)
Catalyst String Quartet

Clarinet Quintet in F sharp minor, Op 10 (iv. Finale)
Anthony McGill, clarinet
Catalyst Quartet

Magnificat in F major
The Choir of Exeter College, Oxford
Christopher Holman, conductor
Miles Swinden, organ

Piano Quintet, Op 1 (i. Allegro con moto; ii- Larghetto)
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective

Symphony, Op 8 (iii. Scherzo)
Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Douglas Bostock, conductor


Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Cardiff

Composer of the Week: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod presents an in-depth survey of the life and work of this week's composer.

Donald Macleod presents an in-depth survey of the life and work of this week's composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

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