Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor (8 March 190321 December 1998) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, conductor, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. She was the daughter of composer

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. Of mixed-race birth, Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African Mahler" when ...

and his wife Jessie (née Walmisley).

Personal life

She was born in

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...

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, the daughter of composer

and his wife Jessie Walmisley, who had met as students at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. She had an older brother, Hiawatha.Sadie, Julie Anne and Rhian Samuel. eds. ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers''. Macmillan: New York, 1995. On 19 April 1924 Coleridge-Taylor married Harold Dashwood, in the

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

parish church. She initially composed and conducted using her first name and maiden surname. After their divorce she dropped her first name, thereafter going as Avril Coleridge-Taylor professionally. Coleridge-Taylor was invited on a tour of South Africa in 1952, during the period of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

,Charles Kay, "The Marriage of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Jessie Walmisley"
''Black Music Research Journal'', Vol. 21, No. 2, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Autumn, 2001), pp. 159–178; via JSTOR. arriving on the inaugural flight of the

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

jet from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

.''VOTE 100: Celebrating Women Composers''
St George's Church Brighton, 17 November 2018, programme, p. 15. Originally she was supportive of, or neutral to

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

; she was taken as white as she was at least three-quarters white in ancestry. When the South African government learned that she was one-quarter black (her paternal grandfather being a Creole from Sierra Leone), it would not allow her to work as a composer or conductor. In 1939, she moved to

Buxted Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundarie ...

in East Sussex, where she had views over the South Downs. Coleridge-Taylor died in Seaford on the Sussex coast in late 1998. In 1998 a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

was placed at the nursing home where she spent her last days, Stone's House, Crouch Lane, Seaford.

Career in music

Coleridge-Taylor wrote her first composition, "Goodbye Butterfly", at the age of 12. Later, she won a scholarship for composition and piano at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

in 1915, where she was taught orchestration and composition by

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about m ...

and

Alec Rowley Alec Rowley (13 March 1892 – 12 January 1958) was an English composer, organist, pianist, lecturer and writer on music. He composed a large number of works, mainly on a small scale and often of an educational nature though with some larger-scale ...

, and conducting by

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hund ...

Ernest Read Ernest Read CBE (22 February 1879 – 9 October 1965) was an English conductor, organist, and music educator. He had a profound impact on the development of music education within England during the first half of the 20th century, and published ...

and Albert Coates. In 1933, she made her formal debut as a conductor at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. She was the first female conductor of H.M.S.

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

and a frequent guest conductor of the

BBC Orchestra BBC Orchestras and Singers refers collectively to a number of orchestras, choirs and other musical ensembles, maintained by the BBC. Current operation All of the BBC’s Orchestras and Singers record performances primarily for BBC Radio 3, with ...

and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. In 1938, she was the first female conductor to conduct at the bandstand in London's

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

. She was the founder and conductor of both the Coleridge-Taylor Symphony Orchestra and its accompanying musical society in 1941, intended to give employment to musicians during the depression. The orchestra at its peak consisted of more than 100 musicians made up of 70 professionals and 30 "specially selected" amateur string players, and a choir of 70 voices. She also founded the Malcolm Sargent Symphony Orchestra and the New World Singers. In 1956, Coleridge-Taylor arranged and conducted the spirituals performed in a BBC radio version of

Marc Connelly Marcus Cook Connelly (December 13, 1890 – December 21, 1980) was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. Biogra ...

's 1930 play ''

The Green Pastures ''The Green Pastures'' is a play written in 1930 by Marc Connelly adapted from ''Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun'' (1928), a collection of stories written by Roark Bradford. The play was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. It had th ...

''. In 1957, she wrote her ''Ceremonial March'' for

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

's independence day celebrations, also attended by

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

. In later life she wrote a biography of her composer father, ''The Heritage of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor'' (London: Dobson, 1979). The book details her own life and memories of her father. She also published compositions under the pseudonym Peter Riley.Avril Coleridge-Taylor, ''The Heritage of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor'', London: Dobson, 1979 (e.g., p. 154).

Music

Her compositions include large-scale orchestral works, as well as songs, keyboard, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. Her first orchestral work, ''To April'' (1929), also marked her first appearance as a conductor when it was performed two years later. There followed the suite ''Spring Magic'' (1933), the 12 minute tone poem ''Sussex Landscape'', Op. 27 (1936), a Piano Concerto in F minor (1938), ''From the Hills'', ''In Memoriam R.A.F.'', and the ''Golden Wedding Ballet Suite''. ''Wyndore (Windover)'' and ''The Elfin Artist'', are both for choir and orchestra. ''Historical Episode'' (1941), one of her largest works, is a symphonic impression of war-time events and experiences.Palmer, Russell. ''British Music'' (1947). There are signs of a revival in interest in her work in the 21st century. The manuscript of the Impromptu in A minor, ''Romance de pan'', first performed in 1922, was rediscovered in the Royal College of Music Library collection and performed in Brighton in 2018. ''Sussex Landscape'' was played in 2019 by the

Chineke! Orchestra Chineke! Orchestra () is a British orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom, Black & ethnically diverse musicians. The word Chineke derives from the Igbo lang ...

at a

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

concert on 22 April 2019, with a repeat at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in October 2020. It has since been recorded. ''Wyndore'', composed in

Alfriston Alfriston is a village and civil parish in the East Sussex district of Wealden, England. The village lies in the valley of the River Cuckmere, about four miles (6 km) north-east of Seaford and south of the main A27 trunk road and part ...

in 1936 and inspired by an

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

poem ("I have tuned my music to the trees"), is a seven-minute song without words. The first performance was organised by the Birkenhead Philharmonic Society on 16 February 1937, conducted by Coleridge-Taylor. The

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

gave its first UK performance for 82 years on 7 March 2020 at

Boxgrove Priory Boxgrove Priory is a ruined priory in the village of Boxgrove in Sussex, England. It was founded in the 12th century. History Origins The Priory was founded in the reign of Henry I, about 1123 by Robert de Haia (or de la Haye), Lord of Halnacr ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

Works

Chamber music

*''Idylle'' for flute and piano, Op. 21 *''Impromptu'' for flute and piano, Op. 33 *''A Lament'' for flute and piano, Op. 31 *''Fantasie'' for violin and piano

Keyboard music

*''Four Characteristic Waltzes'' *''Impromptu'', Op. 9 *''Rhapsody'' for piano, Op. 174 *''Nocturne'' for piano solo *Concert etude

Orchestral music

*''To April'', poem for orchestra (1933) *''Wyndore'' for choir and orchestra (1936) *Piano Concerto in F minor (1938) *''Sussex Landscape'', (1940) Op. 27 * ''Historical Episode (1941) * ''Symphonic Impression'' (1942) *''Golden Wedding'' Ballet Suite * ''Comet Prelude'' (1952) *''Ceremonial March'' to celebrate Ghana's Independence (1957)

Songs

* "Goodbye Butterfly", Op. 1 * "Mister Sun", Op. 2 * "Silver Stars", Op. 3 * "Who Knows?", Op. 4 * "April", Op. 5 * "The Dreaming Water Lily", Op. 6 * "The Rustling of Grass", Op. 7 (text: Alfred Noyes) * "The Entranced Hour", Op. 8 * "Song", Op. 29 * "Nightfall", Op. 43 * "Apple Blossom", Op. 44 * "Sleeping and Waking", Op. 45Coleridge-Taylor (1979), ''The Heritage of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor'', pp. 154–156.

References

Sources

*Cohen, Aaron, ''International Encyclopedia of Women Composers'', New York: Hamish Books & Music, 1981. *Hixon, Donald, ''Women in Music: An Encyclopedic Biobibliography'', Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow P, 1993. *Sadie, Julie Ann, & Samuel, Rhian, ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers'', New York: Macmillan, 1995. *Sadie, Stanley, ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', New York: Macmillan, 2001.

External links

Performance of ''Sussex Landscape'' Op. 27, by the Chineke! Orchestra, October 2020

www.blackmahler.com
for Coleridge-Taylor and the most recent book about him. His daughter Avril is also featured in the book: Elford, Charles, ''Black Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story'', London, England: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd, 2008. *"Daughter of Famous Composer Gives OK to S. African Bias", ''Jet Magazine'', 1 December 1955.
Two songs (''Can Sorrow Find Me?'' and ''Silver Stars'') performed by Gabriella Di Laccio and Clelia Iruzun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleridge-Taylor, Avril 1903 births 1998 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century English composers 20th-century English women musicians 20th-century women composers Alumni of Trinity College of Music Black British classical musicians Black classical composers British people of Sierra Leone Creole descent British women classical composers English classical composers English classical pianists English people of African-American descent English Romantic composers English women pianists People from Buxted People from Seaford, East Sussex People from South Norwood Sierra Leone Creole people Women conductors (music) 20th-century women pianists