Black History Month: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence Price, and William Grant Still

We continue our celebration of Black History Month by learning about Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence Price, and William Grant Still.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Years Lived: 1875-1912

Period: Romantic

Country: England

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer and conductor. He was named after the famous poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  At age 5 he started learning the violin and went on to study at the Royal College of Music in London. 

Coleridge-Taylor quickly became popular for his unique style. He was heavily influenced by traditional African music, which was very different from what other people were writing at the time. 

In 1904, while touring in America, Colerige-Taylor was hosted at the White House by Theodore Roosevelt. His music was popular with the African American population in America and he was well received on all three of his US tours—in 1904, 1906, and 1910.

Coleridge-Taylor's compositions include his cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, probably his most famous work, which is said to have rivaled Handel's Messiah and Mendelssohn's Elijah at the time. For a few decades it was one of the most popular pieces of music in England! In fact, from 1924 to 1939 Coleridge-Taylor's trilogy Song of Hiawatha—which included Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, The Death of Minnehaha, and Hiawatha's Departure—was performed for two weeks, annually, with scenery, costumes and dancing in the Royal Albert Hall. Coleridge-Taylor also wrote choral works, incidental music, and a violin concerto. 

 

This article from The Londonist includes pictures and more information about Coleridge-Taylor and this Classic FM article includes information as well as  YouTube videos of some of his music. The Parker Symphony Orchestra includes these eight facts about the composer on their website. 

 

To hear additional clips of Coleridge-Taylor's music, click on the speaker icons on this Wise Music Classical page.

Florence Price

Years Lived: 1887-1953

Period: Romantic

Country: America

Florence Price was an American composer, and is recognized as the first African American composer to have a composition performed by a major orchestra. She grew up in Arkansas, but graduated high school at the age of 14 to attend New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts where she studied organ and teaching. 

After graduating from NEC, Price returned to Arkansas where she taught at several colleges before focusing on her composing. She moved from the South to Chicago, where she wrote a lot of her compositions. She worked as an organist for silent film screenings and composed songs for radio ads under pen name Vee Jay.

In 1933, the Chicago Symphony premiered her Symphony No. 1 in E minor making Price the first African American composer to have a composition performed by a major orchestra. Other notable compositions include 4 symphonies, two piano concertos, two violin concertos, and many vocal songs.

More pictures and facts about Price can be found on this website about her and read or listen to these four NPR articles for even more information.

Hear Price's Adoration performed by Cleveland Orchestra musicians in this YouTube video and her Violin Concerto No. 2 performed by Kelly Hall-Tomkins and the Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra in this YouTube video.

William Grant Still

Years Lived: 1895-1978

Period: Modern

Country: America

William Grant Still was an American composer who was the first African American to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the United States—he guest conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1936. Born in Mississippi, but grew up in Arkansas, Still started violin lessons when he was 15 and went on to study at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio. He then went on to study at New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. 

William Grant Still's composition style is directly influenced by jazz, as heard in what is widely considered his most famous work, Afro-American Symphony (Symphony No.1 in A flat major). This piece follows the traditional European form of a classical symphony, but uses jazz, blues, and African American characteristics to make it a truly unique piece. It was one of the most widely performed pieces by an American composer for quite some time.

William Grant Still also wrote eight operas, five symphonies, ballets, chamber music, art songs, and solo works for various instruments. 

 

Classics for Kids includes this information about him and also these interview excerpts with his daughter, who dedicates herself to getting her father's music recorded and performed. They also have several short podcasts, including this one about him with clips of his music and this one specifically about his Afro-American Symphony.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids website includes further information and clips of his Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American).