The composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor constantly experienced the pressure of her father’s reputation. As the daughter of the renowned Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, one of the most famous UK composers of the turn of the 20th century, Avril’s reputation was enveloped in the deep shadows of history.
A World Premiere
In recent months, I contemplated these legacies as I made arrangements to record the world premiere recording of the composer’s concerto for piano composed in 1936. Boasting impassioned harmonies, heartfelt tunes, and confident beats, her composition will provide audiences deep understanding into how the composer – a wartime composer born in 1903 – conceived of her world as a woman of colour.
Shadows and Truth
Yet about legacies. One needs patience to adapt, to recognize outlines as they actually appear, to separate fact from misinterpretation, and I had been afraid to address her history for some time.
I earnestly desired Avril to be a reflection of her father. To some extent, she was. The idyllic English tones of Samuel’s influence can be heard in numerous compositions, for example From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). But you only have to review the names of her father’s compositions to realize how he heard himself as not only a standard-bearer of British Romantic style but a representative of the African heritage.
At this point Samuel and Avril began to differ.
American society evaluated Samuel by the brilliance of his compositions as opposed to the colour of his skin.
Family Background
During his studies at the renowned institution, her father – the son of a African father and a British mother – started to lean into his African roots. Once the African American poet this literary figure visited the UK in the late 19th century, the young musician eagerly sought him out. He adapted Dunbar’s African Romances to music and the next year used the poet’s words for a stage piece, Dream Lovers. Then came the choral work that put Samuel on the map: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.
Inspired by this American writer’s The Song of Hiawatha, this composition was an worldwide sensation, notably for Black Americans who felt vicarious pride as American society judged Samuel by the brilliance of his music as opposed to the colour of his skin.
Activism and Politics
Success did not temper his activism. During that period, he attended the initial Pan African gathering in London where he made the acquaintance of the Black American thinker WEB Du Bois and witnessed a variety of discussions, including on the mistreatment of Black South Africans. He was a campaigner throughout his life. He kept connections with pioneers of civil rights including Du Bois and this leader, spoke publicly on equality for all, and even discussed racial problems with President Theodore Roosevelt on a trip to the presidential residence in the early 1900s. In terms of his art, reminisced Du Bois, “he wrote his name so high as a composer that it will endure.” He passed away in 1912, at 37 years old. However, how would the composer have thought of his child’s choice to travel to South Africa in the 1950s?
Issues and Stance
“Daughter of Famous Composer expresses approval to S African Bias,” appeared as a heading in the Black American publication Jet magazine. Apartheid “seems to me the appropriate course”, she informed Jet. Upon further questioning, she revised her statement: she was not in favor with apartheid “fundamentally” and it “ought to be permitted to run its course, directed by benevolent residents of all races”. If Avril had been more in tune to her father’s politics, or born in the US under segregation, she could have hesitated about this system. However, existence had shielded her.
Heritage and Innocence
“I possess a UK passport,” she said, “and the officials never asked me about my background.” Therefore, with her “light” skin (as described), she moved alongside white society, supported by their admiration for her renowned family member. She delivered a lecture about her family’s work at the Cape Town university and led the broadcasting ensemble in Johannesburg, programming the inspiring part of her Piano Concerto, titled: “In memory of my Father.” While a skilled pianist on her own, she avoided playing as the featured artist in her concerto. On the contrary, she invariably directed as the leader; and so the segregated ensemble followed her lead.
The composer aspired, as she stated, she “may foster a shift”. But by 1954, things fell apart. When government agents became aware of her mixed background, she had to depart the land. Her British passport failed to safeguard her, the diplomatic official advised her to leave or face arrest. She came home, embarrassed as the magnitude of her innocence dawned. “The realization was a difficult one,” she lamented. Compounding her humiliation was the 1955 publication of her ill-fated Jet interview, a year after her forced leaving from South Africa.
A Recurring Theme
While I reflected with these legacies, I perceived a known narrative. The story of holding UK citizenship until it’s challenged – that brings to mind African-descended soldiers who defended the UK throughout the World War II and lived only to be denied their due compensation. Along with the Windrush era,
