CD REVIEW -
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
[1875-1912] – ORCHESTRAL
WORKS
Ulster Orchestra, conductor
Charles Peebles
Soloists: Rebecca Murphy, soprano
Iona Petcu-Colan, violin
SOMM CD 0713 Total
duration: 68:46
In common with his
near-contemporaries – Arthur
Sullivan, Edward German, Haydn
Wood and Montague Phillips –
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
[1875-1912] – aspired to
write both 'Serious' and 'Light'
music although, even in the
latter case, his works definitely
lean towards the more 'Serious'
end of the spectrum. I would
suggest that it certainly applies
to the pieces on this newly
released CD by the enterprising
SOMM label.
He was born in
Holborn, London, to a Negro
physician father, Daniel Peter
Hughes Taylor and an unmarried
English woman, [whom he
deserted], Alice Hare Martin; she
named him Samuel Coleridge
Taylor, after the English author
and poet Samuel Taylor-Coleridge.
His family called him 'Coleridge'
[note – with only two
syllables, Cole–ridge, not
Co–ler–idge ! ]. His
name was originally not
hyphenated, but after a printer's
error on a programme, which
included a hyphen, he decided to
adopt his surname in this form
and from then on, he became
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Samuel’s
mother had come from a musical
family and from a very early age
her son showed an exceptional
talent for music, so
notwithstanding that finances
were extremely strained, he
received violin lessons –
paid-for by Alice's father –
and was able to give his first
public recital at only eight
years old. He also sang as a
choirboy in Croydon, Surrey, to
where his mother had moved upon
her marriage to his adoptive
father, --George Evans, a railway
worker.
At the age of 15,
he entered the Royal College of
Music, ostensibly to study the
violin, but within a short while
he switched to learning
composition under Sir Charles
Villiers Stanford, whose 'star
pupil' he would become. This led
to the award of a scholarship in
1893. One of his early champions
was Augustus Jaeger [Elgar's
friend 'Nimrod'], who encouraged
Sir Edward to recommend
Coleridge-Taylor for what would
become his first commission. This
was 'Ballade in A Minor', which
was completed in 1898 for the
Gloucester Three Choirs Festival.
In recent years,
an increasing number of
recordings of his substantial
canon of compositions have
appeared; these are mainly of his
chamber and choral works.
I have in my
collection a CD, recorded in 1993
and published in 1995 by Marco
Polo in its British Light
Music series, which includes
the relatively well- known Petite
Suite de Concert, [Op.77],
and the Four Characteristic
Waltzes, [Op.22]. It was
re-released in 2022 on the Naxos
label. This was reviewed by both
Peter Burt and myself at that
time, and may be viewed here.
I also possess a
couple of recordings of the
little-known Violin Concerto,
dating from 1912, which was
destined to be his last
composition before his untimely
death that year at the age of
only 37.
It has been
attributed to a combination of
the stress of his constantly-
parlous financial situation, and
poor health due to overwork,
resulting in pneumonia. In
recognition of the high regard in
which Coleridge-Taylor was held,
King George V granted his young
widow, Jessie, an annual pension
of £100.
This new release
is very welcome, especially as
– of the seven items –
five are first recordings*, as
follows: -
Ethiopia
Saluting the Colours –
March Op.51*
Solemn Prelude
–Op.40 for orchestra*
Zara’s Earings
– Op. 7 for soprano and
orchestra*
Idyll – Op.44 for
orchestra
Ballade Op. 4 for violin
and orchestra
Entracte no. 1 from the
incidental music to Nero, Op. 62*
Romance in B for string
orchestra
[after Clarinet Quintet
Op.10: 2nd movt : Largetto]*
Coleridge-Taylor's
music is very much 'a child of
its time'. The unmistakable
influence of Elgar is never very
far away, and some of the items
here bear more than a passing
resemblance to the styles of
Johannes Brahms and Antonin
Dvorak. Stanford – in his
classes at the Royal College
– was a passionate advocate
of 'Brahmsian' principles of
composition.
The whole
production was undertaken in
Northern Island, with the
recording taking place in
Belfast. The Ulster Orchestra is
on fine form, as are the two
Irish soloists.
The informative
booklet notes are by the
musicologist Prof. Jeremy Dibble,
who has provided full details of
all the compositions; also
included is a list of around 40
financial contributors to the
project, most of whom I suspect
are from Ireland.
SOMM are to be
warmly congratulated on this new
addition to their catalogue.
©
Tony Clayden, October
2025
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