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The composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor constantly bore the pressure of her parent’s reputation. Being the child of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, among the prominent UK musicians of the turn of the 20th century, the composer’s identity was enveloped in the deep shadows of bygone eras.

The First Recording

In recent months, I contemplated these legacies as I prepared to produce the inaugural album of Avril’s 1936 piano concerto. With its impassioned harmonies, heartfelt tunes, and bold rhythms, her composition will provide music lovers deep understanding into how she – a wartime composer who entered the world in 1903 – conceived of her world as a female composer of color.

Past and Present

Yet about the past. It can take a while to adapt, to perceive forms as they really are, to separate fact from misrepresentation, and I had been afraid to face Avril’s past for some time.

I deeply hoped Avril to be her father’s daughter. Partially, she was. The rustic British sounds of parental inspiration can be observed in several pieces, such as From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). However, one need only look at the titles of her family’s music to realize how he heard himself as not only a champion of UK romantic tradition as well as a advocate of the African heritage.

This was where parent and child appeared to part ways.

The United States assessed the composer by the mastery of his music as opposed to the his ethnicity.

Family Background

During his studies at the prestigious music college, the composer – the child of a Sierra Leonean father and a British mother – began embracing his African roots. At the time the poet of color this literary figure came to London in 1897, the 21-year-old composer actively pursued him. He composed the poet’s African Romances as a composition and the subsequent year used the poet’s words for a stage piece, Dream Lovers. Then came the choral composition that put Samuel on the map: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Drawing from the poet Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, Samuel’s Hiawatha was an global success, notably for Black Americans who felt shared pride as American society assessed his work by the excellence of his music as opposed to the his race.

Activism and Politics

Recognition did not temper his beliefs. At the turn of the century, he participated in the initial Pan African gathering in London where he encountered the Black American thinker this influential figure and observed a range of talks, covering the oppression of Black South Africans. He remained an advocate until the end. He sustained relationships with early civil rights leaders such as Du Bois and this leader, spoke publicly on ending discrimination, and even discussed issues of racism with President Theodore Roosevelt while visiting to the White House in that year. As for his music, the scholar reflected, “he made his mark so high as a creative artist that it will endure.” He passed away in the early 20th century, aged 37. Yet how might Samuel have thought of his offspring’s move to be in the African nation in the 1950s?

Issues and Stance

“Child of Celebrated Artist expresses approval to South African policy,” appeared as a heading in the African American magazine Jet magazine. The system “seems to me the correct approach”, she informed Jet. Upon further questioning, she backtracked: she didn’t agree with apartheid “in principle” and it “ought to be permitted to run its course, directed by benevolent residents of all races”. If Avril had been more attuned to her family’s principles, or from the US under segregation, she may have reconsidered about apartheid. However, existence had protected her.

Identity and Naivety

“I possess a UK passport,” she stated, “and the officials never asked me about my ethnicity.” Therefore, with her “fair” skin (as described), she traveled among the Europeans, buoyed up by their acclaim for her renowned family member. She presented about her father’s music at the educational institution and directed the South African Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra in Johannesburg, programming the heroic third movement of her concerto, named: “In remembrance of my Father.” Although a accomplished player personally, she avoided playing as the featured artist in her concerto. Rather, she consistently conducted as the conductor; and so the apartheid orchestra played under her baton.

She desired, as she stated, she “may foster a shift”. But by 1954, the situation collapsed. After authorities discovered her Black ancestry, she was forced to leave the land. Her citizenship offered no defense, the diplomatic official urged her to go or risk imprisonment. She went back to the UK, feeling great shame as the magnitude of her naivety was realized. “The lesson was a hard one,” she lamented. Adding to her embarrassment was the 1955 publication of her unfortunate magazine feature, a year after her sudden departure from the country.

A Common Narrative

While I reflected with these shadows, I sensed a known narrative. The narrative of being British until it’s challenged – one that calls to mind Black soldiers who fought on behalf of the UK in the World War II and lived only to be refused rightful benefits. Including those from Windrush,