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The composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor constantly bore the pressure of her family heritage. Being the child of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a leading the most famous British composers of the 1900s, the composer’s name was enveloped in the long shadows of bygone eras.

A World Premiere

In recent months, I reflected on these legacies as I made arrangements to make the inaugural album of the composer’s concerto for piano composed in 1936. With its impassioned harmonies, soulful lyricism, and valiant rhythms, this piece will offer music lovers deep understanding into how the composer – a wartime composer who entered the world in 1903 – imagined her existence as a woman of colour.

Past and Present

Yet about shadows. One needs patience to acclimate, to see shapes as they actually appear, to distinguish truth from misinterpretation, and I had been afraid to confront Avril’s past for a period.

I deeply hoped her to be a reflection of her father. Partially, that held. The pastoral English palettes of her father’s impact can be heard in numerous compositions, including From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). But you only have to review the titles of her father’s compositions to see how he identified as not just a flag bearer of English Romanticism as well as a representative of the African heritage.

At this point father and daughter appeared to part ways.

White America evaluated Samuel by the mastery of his compositions rather than the his racial background.

Family Background

As a student at the Royal College of Music, her father – the child of a parent from Sierra Leone and a Caucasian parent – began embracing his African roots. At the time the poet of color this literary figure came to London in the late 19th century, the 21-year-old composer eagerly sought him out. He set this literary work into music and the following year incorporated his poetry for a musical work, Dream Lovers. This was followed by the choral work that put Samuel on the map: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Based on the poet Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, the piece was an global success, particularly among the Black community who felt shared pride as American society evaluated the composer by the quality of his compositions rather than the his background.

Principles and Actions

Success did not temper Samuel’s politics. During that period, he participated in the First Pan African Conference in the UK where he made the acquaintance of the prominent scholar the renowned Du Bois and saw a variety of discussions, covering the mistreatment of African people in South Africa. He remained an advocate until the end. He maintained ties with early civil rights leaders including Du Bois and the educator Washington, delivered his own speeches on equality for all, and even discussed issues of racism with the American leader while visiting to the US capital in 1904. In terms of his art, Du Bois recalled, “he wrote his name so notably as a creative artist that it cannot soon be forgotten.” He passed away in 1912, at 37 years old. But what would her father have thought of his child’s choice to work in South Africa in the mid-20th century?

Issues and Stance

“Child of Celebrated Artist gives OK to apartheid system,” declared a title in the African American magazine Jet magazine. This policy “seems to me the correct approach”, the composer stated Jet. Upon further questioning, she qualified her remarks: she was not in favor with apartheid “as a concept” and it “could be left to resolve itself, guided by benevolent residents of every background”. If Avril had been more attuned to her father’s politics, or from segregated America, she may have reconsidered about apartheid. However, existence had shielded her.

Heritage and Innocence

“I hold a British passport,” she stated, “and the authorities never asked me about my background.” Thus, with her “light” appearance (according to the magazine), she moved among the Europeans, supported by their admiration for her renowned family member. She presented about her father’s music at the University of Cape Town and directed the South African Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra in that location, including the heroic third movement of her concerto, titled: “In remembrance of my Father.” Although a confident pianist on her own, she never played as the lead performer in her piece. Rather, she always led as the conductor; and so the orchestra of the era followed her lead.

She desired, in her own words, she “might bring a change”. But by 1954, circumstances deteriorated. When government agents became aware of her Black ancestry, she had to depart the nation. Her citizenship offered no defense, the diplomatic official advised her to leave or risk imprisonment. She returned to England, feeling great shame as the extent of her inexperience dawned. “The realization was a difficult one,” she expressed. Increasing her humiliation was the release in 1955 of her ill-fated Jet interview, a year after her unceremonious exit from South Africa.

A Familiar Story

As I sat with these shadows, I sensed a known narrative. The account of holding UK citizenship until you’re not – that brings to mind Black soldiers who defended the English throughout the global conflict and survived only to be denied their due compensation. Including those from Windrush,