Preface.

During the last quarter of the twentieth century, it was evident that musical tastes were leaving the neoclassical realm that had been inhabited by the serialists, anti-Wagnerians, acoustic technicians, and others. A nostalgia for tonality haunted George Crumb's Macrokosmos, Tchaikovsky was back in favor, the later works of Richard Strauss were securing frequent performances and staging. Being a neoromanticist was no longer an anathema. This development accounts for changes in taste that are particularly evident in the case of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and are reflected in the appearance of publications about and recordings of his music.

The chronological survey of the literature in the article on Coleridge-Taylor that appears in the International Dictionary of Black Composers(1999) includes six sources that appeared before 1922, four released within the next forty-four years, and fifteen that were published between 1977 and 1995.

The first release of a recording of Coleridge-Taylor's compositions came before 1920, when Maud Powell excerpted and arranged "Deep River" from Twenty-four Negro Melodies. About 1923, pianist Alec Rowley offered the "Petite suite de concert" from Scenes from an Imaginary Ballet. Ten 78 rpm recordings appeared in the 1930s, involving such champions as conductors Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Dan Godfey, tenor Tudor Davies, and baritones Peter Dawson and Arthur Reckless. In the 1940s, only three works were recorded, two of which were by soprano Dorothy Maynor.

While the war certainly had something to do with this reduction in the number of recordings, the attraction of neo-classicism is evidenced as well. In fact, there were no works of the composer recorded in the 1950s. The next decade, however, included the first complete recording of Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, which performance seems never to have left the catalog, although appearing on a variety of labels (see Discography). And there were two recordings of the Petite suite de concert, exemplary of light music from Coleridge-Taylor's last year.

Things then began to change in the 1970s, with twenty-one recordings or notable performances. In 1971, we heard the first recording of the Clarinet Quintet (Ramon Kireilis with the Lamont String Quartet); and Stuart Burrows, tenor, recorded the highly sensuous "Eleanore." In 1975, the BBC noted the centenary of Coleridge-Taylor's birth, broadcasting the three Hiawatha cantatas and the violin concerto. This was also the decade of the Columbia Black Composers Series and a second recording of the Clarinet Quintet by Georgina Dobree with the Amici String Quartet.

In the 1980s, National Public Radio broadcast Maurice Peress's recreation of the 1912 Clef Club concert with works by Coleridge-Taylor, and the Peabody Conservatory presented a concert version of Dream Lovers, op. 10, as part of its three-day conference on Black Musical Theater. Howard University appointed Raymond Jackson to its piano faculty, resulting in further exposure of the works of Coleridge-Taylor.

At least thirty-eight titles were recorded in the last decade of the twentieth century, including performances by pianist Virginia Eskin and Harold Wright's interpretation of the Clarinet Quintet on the same CD in 1990. (1) Highly significant was the issue of the complete Hiawatha cantatas in 1991 with major artists. The Irish Radio Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Leaper offered still more repertoire. It was the time also for reissues of early recordings. A strong impact was made by the works offered in 1997 by violinist Rachel Barton, a recording dedicated to works for violin and orchestra by black composers of the past. William E. Thomas and his Coleridge Ensemble gave first recordings of several youthful works of Coleridge-Taylor in 1998, and in the same year Monica Gaylord added to the catalog with an anthology of piano works that included Coleridge-Taylor's "Valse-suite." At the end of the decade, soprano Roberta Alexander recorded "Life and Death." The new century has already seen the initiation of the African Heritage Symphonic Series, with Paul Freeman conducting the Chicago Sinfonietta.

The romantic to neoclassical to neoromantic swing of the twentieth century had a counterpart in the nineteenth century. Beethoven was revered, but the composers who followed him read conflicting concepts from his oeuvre. The more forward-looking composers interpreted his works as a sign that the orchestra should be greatly enlarged, that Zukunftsmusik obligated program music, freed from the formal traditions of the abstract. Thus thought, in varying degrees, Weber, Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner (who might have culminated this brand of the romantic ideal). The more conservative figures--Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Brahms as examples--saw no reason to abandon a moderate evolution and tended to avoid large-scale opera composition and the dramatically enlarged orchestra. While it is certainly true that they, as real romantics, were attracted to program music, they felt this could be accomplished without abandoning the sonata form, and both camps had moments of intimate expression--two camps, at a time when individuality was prized yet at a time when individuals sought comfort by subscribing to a creed.

Wagner (aka Germany) made the opera symphonic and developmental. The network of his rich philosophy rather obligated some kind of reaction from all other composers of his camp, which moved on through Strauss and Mahler and was enormously enriched with the discovery of the subconscious, of expressionism. The less radical group took opposition to the Germanic figures and encouraged non-Germans to express themselves through nationalism, as if their music and local traditions were being aesthetically invaded--not just those of emerging musical cultures but also those with a continuous history in music such as France, with Debussy. It should be noted if only in passing that the impressionists (or symbolists, as some termed them) entered the 1920s as neoclassicists, trying to ignore the nineteenth century altogether. The two camps secured a synthesis in Stravinsky, whose militant anti-Wagnerism led him to regard Webern's highly structured works as ideal models.

Within this framework, it is easy to see why Coleridge-Taylor had respect for Antonin Dvorak and Johannes Brahms, why he--knowing he was a minority within his environment (as was Dvorak)--showed so much sympathy when confronted with the Hiawatha legend and why he yearned to belong to the heritage of his father, all the while being a British composer. That is an important matter from the British perspective, but what impact did Coleridge-Taylor's work have on the American audience? Who were the African-American cultural heroes in music around 1900? Composers of coon songs for minstrel shows? Those working in the merging ragtime music or the blues? Probably nothing was known of the many historical figures from France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, or Brazil, and the spirituals were still associated with the days of slavery--in fact, the set of Twenty-four Negro Melodies certainly was a very early instance of the use of this repertoire by a composer (2)). True, Harry Burleigh's career was starting to take shape, but the visit of Dvorak had given African Americans great encouragement to believe that there was dignity and substance in an unknown history with greater promise for the future, and African Americans were seeking "to refine and elevate" the culture, as Doris McGinty indicates. And now came proof for this course of action--a young man of extraordinary talent and accomplishment with his undergraduate training so recently behind him, a figure already published, whose music was being performed in chorus-loving England, with Hiawatha's Wedding Feast--a work already being performed in the United States at a time lynching was in vogue--soon to rival Handel's Messiah and Mendelssohn's Elijah in popularity. This second European to come to America only added to those prerequisites that made the Harlem Renaissance possible.

The time is right now to look anew at aspects of the Coleridge-Taylor history, just as Allan Keiler (2000) did in his penetrating study, Marian Anderson; A Singer's Journey, and as Andrew Ward (2000) did in his detailed reexamination of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Dark midnight when I rise. The fresh view of Coleridge-Taylor is advanced substantially by this anthology. The youthful works of Coleridge-Taylor are explored in Catherine Carr's contribution, wherein are signaled titles one yearns to hear. Doris Evans McGinty has gathered new information on the composer's visits to the United States which laid so important a foundation for the Harlem Renaissance. Following Coleridge-Taylor's death, the remarkable success in his native land of the Hiawatha cantatas is clearly evidenced by Jeffrey Green's presentation. Charles Kay's discussion of the composer's marriage probes into British sociology, giving at the same time new data on the bride's family. Impetus for the revival of music by Coleridge-Taylor was intensified by Geoffrey Self's The Hiawatha Man (1995), and he now reaches into the music itself, not hesitating to offer criticism. The question of racial dichotomy and attitude is the basis for Paul Richard's investigation. In a second offering, Jeffrey Green raises the question on the composer's family and gives data on the boy's childhood, correcting published errors en route.

One additional hope might be added to Jeffrey Green's agenda for the future. The only new printings of this music appear to be four choral works issued by Broude Brothers, edited by William Tortolano (1990; 1992; 1993; 1996). Too many of Coleridge-Taylor's works are difficult to acquire, not only for study, but for performance.

(1.) The quintet was billed as a premiere recording in A major (see Carr in this issue, p. 194).

(2.) William Arms Fisher, a Dvorak student, was an administrator of the Oliver Ditson firm when the publisher commissioned this set.

DISCOGRAPHY

Chamber music. Coleridge Ensemble. Afka Records SK-543 (1998).

Clarinet quintet; Petite suite; Ballade; Spirituals. Virginia Eskin, piano; Harold Wright, clarinet; Hawthorne String Quartet. Koch International Classics 3-7056 2H1 (1990).

Danse negre from African suite; Petite suite de concert. African Heritage Symphonic Series, vol. 1. Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, conductor. Cedille CDR 90000 055.

Deep river, from Twenty-four negro melodies. The art of Maud Powell, vol. 3. Arranged by Maud Powell for violin and piano. 1904; reissue, Maud Powell Foundation, MPF-3 (1989).

Eleanore, from Six Songs, op. 37. Stuart Burrows, tenor. L'Oiseau Lyre SOL 324 (1971).

Hiawatha. Helen Field, soprano; Arthur Davies, tenor; Bryn Terfel, baritone; chorus and orchestra of the Welsh National Opera; Kenneth Alwyn, conductor. Argo 430 356/8-2 (1991).

Hiawatha overture, op. 30; Petite suite de concert, op. 77; Four characteristic waltzes, op. 22; Gipsy suite, op. 20; Romance of the prairie lillies, op. 39; Othello suite, op. 79. Irish Radio Orchestra; Adrian Leaper, conductor. Marco Polo 8.223516 (1995).

Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, op. 30, no. 1. Columbia C-1931/4 (1962). Reissued, Angel S-35900, Angel S-69689, Arabesque NB-9005, Brunswick 35003-A, His Masters Voice ESD 7161, His Masters Voice ASD-467, and Theorema TH 121224.

Life and death. Songs my mother taught me. Roberta Alexander, soprano. Etcetera KTC 1208 (1999).

Petite suite de concert, op. 77. Philharmonia Orchestra [London]; George Weldon, conductor. His Master's Voice 7EP 7133 (1962).

Petite suite de concert, op. 77. Philharmonia Orchestra [London]; George Weldon, conductor. HMS PES 5285 (1963).

Quintet for clarinet and string quartet in F-sharp minor, op. 10. Georgina Dobree, clarinet; Amici String Quartet. Chantry Recordings ABM-23 (1976).

Quintet for clarinet and string quartet in F-sharp minor, op. 10. Ramon Kireilis, clarinet; Lamont String Quartet. Spectrum SR-127 (1980).

Romance in G major for violin and orchestra. Violin concertos by black composers of the 18th & 19th centuries. Rachel Barton, violin; Encore Chamber Orchestra; Daniel Hege, conductor. Cedille CDR 90000 035 (1997).

Scenes from an imaginary ballet, no. 3. Hiawatha. Alec Rowley, piano; orchestra. 1923; reissue, Pearl GEMM CD-6695 (1992).

She rested by the broken brook / Thou are risen. [Library of Congress Music Division concert, 1940-12-18.] Dorothy Maynor, voice. 1940; reissued, LCM-2141 (1990).

Twenty-four negro melodies. Frances Walker, piano. Orion ORS-78305/306 (1978); reissued, Orion 7806-2 (1995).

Valse-suite. Black piano: A treasury of works for solo piano by black composers. Monica Gaylord, piano. Music & Arts CD 737 (1998).

REFERENCES

Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel. 1990. Lift up your heads, for SATB and organ, edited by William Tortolano. New York: Broude Bros.

--. 1992. Break forth into joy, for tenor solo, SATB, and organ, edited by William Tortolano. New York: Broude Bros.

--. 1993. The Lord is my strength, for SATB and organ, edited by William Tortolano. New York: Broude Bros.

--. 1996. O ye that love the Lord, for SATB and organ, edited by William Tortolano. New York: Broude Bros.

Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel. 1999. International Dictionary of black composers, 1:275-285. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn.

Keiler, Allan. 2000. Marian Anderson: A singer's journey. New York: Scribner.

Self, Geoffrey. 1995. The Hiawatha man: The life and work of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Aldershot, Hants, England: Scolar Press.

Ward, Andrew. 2000. Dark midnight when I rise: The story of the Jubilee Singers, who introduced the world to the music of black America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

DOMINIQUE-RENE DE LERMA, currently professor of music at Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisconsin), is in his fifty-second year of college teaching, having previously served on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory, and the University of Miami. From 1990 to 1993, he was affiliated with the Center for Black Music Research. His four-volume Bibliography of Black Music was issued by Greenwood Press (1981-1984). He is presently preparing a resource book on music of the black composer and editing works by earlier figures.