Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (jan 1, 1875 – jan 1, 1912)

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This English composer was born to a British mother and a West African father. Coleridge-Taylor was introduced to the violin at age five by his paternal grandfather, who supported his musical development financially through his early years. Coleridge-Taylor was admitted at the age of 15 to the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), originally studying violin. After two years, he switched to composition, studying under Charles Stanford, where he was a favorite student.

After his graduation from the Royal Conservatory, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor worked around London conducting orchestras and choirs, including one in his hometown of Croydon. After visiting America, Coleridge-Taylor became interested in African-American folk music, inspired by a performance from the Jubilee Singers. Works such as Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast and his settings of African-American spirituals garnered him popularity in America, which he toured three times. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died on September 1st 1912 at the age of 37 due to pneumonia, leaving behind an illustrious career of composition and conducting as well as his wife, Jessie and two children, Hiawatha and Gwendolyn.

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