142nd birthday of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

(Born 15 August 1875, Holborn, London, England)

DISTINGUISHED prolific composer whose landmark works embody African peoples-centred/-inflected themes including, especially, “Land of the Sun”, Op. 15 (1897) [anticipating Biafra?! - HE-E], “African Romances” Op.17 (1897), The Song of Hiawatha, Op. 30 (“Overture to The Song of Hiawatha”, 1899; “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast”, 1898; “The Death of Minnehaha”, 1899; “Hiawatha’s Departure”, 1900), “African Suite”, Op. 35 (1899), Toussaint L’Ouverture, Op. 46 (1901), “Ethiopia Saluting the Colours”, Op. 51 [2?] (1902), “Moorish Dance”, Op. 55 (1904), “Four African Dances”, Op. 58 (1904), Kubla Khan, Op. 61 (1905), Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op. 63 (1906), Thelma, Op. 72 (1907-9), The Bamboula, Op. 75 (1911)

(Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Symphonic variations on an African air, Op. 63 (1906), played here by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Grant Llewellyn, BBC Radio 3, London, 28 October 2004)

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