Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) transcribed by Althea Talbot-Howard Thata Nabandji Op. 59/3 (1904) A Melody from South East Africa For Cello & Piano Intermediate (Grade 5) OR Professional Encore Piece Duration: 1'45" Key: D minor Clefs: Bass & Tenor To purchase the score, please send a message via the Score Purchase & Contact Page |
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a bi-racial composer of English and Sierra Leonean descent. Born in south London in 1875, he was raised by his English family: a musical family which taught him so well that he gained a place - in the 1890s - at the Royal College of Music in London. His areas of study were Violin and Composition.
Coleridge-Taylor's principal Composition teacher was Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). After leaving the RCM, Coleridge-Taylor gained work as a professional musician in his natal Croydon area, as a teacher and conductor. In 1899 he married Miss Jessie Walmisley, whom he had met whilst studying at the RCM, and they had two children: Hiawatha and Avril Coleridge-Taylor. Both children pursued musical careers in their adulthoods.
Coleridge-Taylor found it difficult to earn sufficient income as a composer, but persevered until his early death at the age of thirty-seven. He experienced a number of successes en route, including three tours of the United States in the 1900s, and patronage by Sir Edward Elgar - also an alum of the RCM. His cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast was a runaway success - and it was his failure to make sufficient money from score sales that lead to the formation of the PRS - the Performing Right Society.
His Op. 59 set of piano melodies from the African diaspora caught the attention of American violin virtuosa Maud Powell, and she created her own, renowned arrangement of Deep River for Violin & Piano in 1904, as mentioned above. It was during these visits to the USA that Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was received at the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt. The composer died in England of pneumonia, in 1912.
Coleridge-Taylor's principal Composition teacher was Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). After leaving the RCM, Coleridge-Taylor gained work as a professional musician in his natal Croydon area, as a teacher and conductor. In 1899 he married Miss Jessie Walmisley, whom he had met whilst studying at the RCM, and they had two children: Hiawatha and Avril Coleridge-Taylor. Both children pursued musical careers in their adulthoods.
Coleridge-Taylor found it difficult to earn sufficient income as a composer, but persevered until his early death at the age of thirty-seven. He experienced a number of successes en route, including three tours of the United States in the 1900s, and patronage by Sir Edward Elgar - also an alum of the RCM. His cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast was a runaway success - and it was his failure to make sufficient money from score sales that lead to the formation of the PRS - the Performing Right Society.
His Op. 59 set of piano melodies from the African diaspora caught the attention of American violin virtuosa Maud Powell, and she created her own, renowned arrangement of Deep River for Violin & Piano in 1904, as mentioned above. It was during these visits to the USA that Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was received at the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt. The composer died in England of pneumonia, in 1912.