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This talented musician continually felt the burden of her father’s heritage. As the daughter of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, one of the best-known English musicians of the turn of the 20th century, the composer’s reputation was shrouded in the deep shadows of bygone eras.

The First Recording

Not long ago, I sat with these legacies as I got ready to record the world premiere recording of the composer’s 1936 piano concerto. Featuring emotional harmonies, heartfelt tunes, and confident beats, this piece will grant music lovers deep understanding into how this artist – an artist in conflict originating from the early 1900s – conceived of her existence as a female composer of color.

Past and Present

But here’s the thing about the past. It can take a while to adapt, to perceive forms as they actually appear, to distinguish truth from distortion, and I was reluctant to address the composer’s background for a while.

I had so wanted Avril to be following in her father’s footsteps. In some ways, she was. The rustic British sounds of parental inspiration can be detected in numerous compositions, such as From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). Yet it suffices to review the names of her father’s compositions to realize how he viewed himself as not only a standard-bearer of British Romantic style and also a voice of the Black diaspora.

It was here that Samuel and Avril seemed to diverge.

American society assessed the composer by the brilliance of his music instead of the his racial background.

Samuel’s African Roots

As a student at the Royal College of Music, her father – the offspring of a African father and a white English mother – turned toward his African roots. Once the poet of color this literary figure visited the UK in that era, the young musician actively pursued him. He set this literary work to music and the next year incorporated his poetry for an opera, Dream Lovers. This was followed by the choral piece that established his reputation: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, Samuel’s Hiawatha was an global success, notably for African Americans who felt vicarious pride as American society evaluated the composer by the brilliance of his compositions instead of the his race.

Activism and Politics

Fame did not reduce Samuel’s politics. At the turn of the century, he participated in the pioneering African conference in London where he met the African American intellectual the renowned Du Bois and observed a series of speeches, such as the subjugation of the Black community there. He was a campaigner throughout his life. He maintained ties with early civil rights leaders like this intellectual and this leader, gave addresses on equality for all, and even discussed matters of race with President Theodore Roosevelt on a trip to the White House in the early 1900s. In terms of his art, Du Bois recalled, “he established his reputation so high as a composer that it cannot soon be forgotten.” He died in the early 20th century, aged 37. Yet how might her father have reacted to his daughter’s decision to work in this country in the that decade?

Controversy and Apartheid

“Daughter of Famous Composer shows support to S African Bias,” ran a headline in the Black American publication Jet magazine. Apartheid “struck me as the correct approach”, Avril told Jet. Upon further questioning, she revised her statement: she was not in favor with apartheid “in principle” and it “ought to be permitted to work itself out, overseen by well-meaning South Africans of all races”. Were the composer more in tune to her father’s politics, or raised in the US under segregation, she could have hesitated about the policy. But life had shielded her.

Identity and Naivety

“I possess a English document,” she said, “and the officials did not inquire me about my background.” Therefore, with her “porcelain-white” appearance (according to the magazine), she traveled alongside white society, lifted by their acclaim for her deceased parent. She presented about her parent’s compositions at the educational institution and directed the broadcasting ensemble in the city, including the bold final section of her Piano Concerto, subtitled: “In remembrance of my Father.” Although a accomplished player personally, she never played as the lead performer in her piece. Rather, she invariably directed as the maestro; and so the segregated ensemble followed her lead.

She desired, in her own words, she “might bring a transformation”. However, by that year, things fell apart. When government agents became aware of her African heritage, she had to depart the nation. Her citizenship failed to safeguard her, the UK representative advised her to leave or be jailed. She went back to the UK, embarrassed as the scale of her inexperience dawned. “The realization was a hard one,” she expressed. Compounding her embarrassment was the release in 1955 of her controversial discussion, a year after her unceremonious exit from South Africa.

A Recurring Theme

While I reflected with these shadows, I felt a familiar story. The narrative of identifying as British until you’re not – that brings to mind African-descended soldiers who fought on behalf of the British during the World War II and made it through but were denied their due compensation. Including those from Windrush,