Out of the Shadows: Why Avril Coleridge-Taylor Deserves to Be Listened To

Avril Coleridge-Taylor always felt the weight of her family heritage. Being the child of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, one of the best-known English musicians of the 1900s, Avril’s name was enveloped in the long shadows of bygone eras.

The First Recording

Earlier this year, I reflected on these memories as I prepared to produce the world premiere recording of Avril’s concerto for piano composed in 1936. Featuring emotional harmonies, heartfelt tunes, and confident beats, this piece will offer audiences fascinating insight into how the composer – a wartime composer originating from the early 1900s – conceived of her world as a woman of colour.

Past and Present

But here’s the thing about shadows. It requires time to acclimate, to recognize outlines as they actually appear, to separate fact from misinterpretation, and I had been afraid to confront the composer’s background for a while.

I deeply hoped her to be following in her father’s footsteps. In some ways, this was true. The pastoral English palettes of her father’s impact can be heard in several pieces, including From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). Yet it suffices to review the headings of her parent’s works to understand how he heard himself as not just a flag bearer of UK romantic tradition as well as a representative of the African diaspora.

It was here that Samuel and Avril began to differ.

American society evaluated Samuel by the mastery of his compositions instead of the his ethnicity.

Family Background

During his studies at the Royal College of Music, Samuel – the offspring of a parent from Sierra Leone and a British mother – turned toward his African roots. Once the poet of color the renowned Dunbar arrived in England in the late 19th century, the young musician actively pursued him. He adapted this literary work as a composition and the next year adapted his verses for a stage piece, Dream Lovers. This was followed by the choral piece that established his reputation: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Drawing from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, Samuel’s Hiawatha was an global success, especially with the Black community who felt indirect honor as the majority judged Samuel by the excellence of his art as opposed to the his race.

Advocacy and Beliefs

Success did not reduce his beliefs. In 1900, he participated in the First Pan African Conference in London where he met the prominent scholar the renowned Du Bois and witnessed a variety of discussions, covering the oppression of Black South Africans. He was a campaigner until the end. He maintained ties with trailblazers for equality such as the scholar and Booker T Washington, gave addresses on ending discrimination, and even engaged in dialogue on matters of race with President Theodore Roosevelt during an invitation to the US capital in 1904. Regarding his compositions, reminisced Du Bois, “he wrote his name so prominently as a musician that it will endure.” He passed away in 1912, in his thirties. But what would Samuel have made of his daughter’s decision to travel to South Africa in the 1950s?

Controversy and Apartheid

“Offspring of Renowned Musician expresses approval to apartheid system,” appeared as a heading in the Black American publication Jet magazine. Apartheid “seems to me the right policy”, Avril told Jet. Upon further questioning, she revised her statement: she was not in favor with the system “in principle” and it “ought to be permitted to resolve itself, overseen by good-intentioned people of diverse ethnicities”. Had Avril been more aligned to her parent’s beliefs, or from the US under segregation, she might have thought twice about the policy. But life had sheltered her.

Identity and Naivety

“I hold a British passport,” she remarked, “and the government agents failed to question me about my ethnicity.” So, with her “fair” appearance (as described), she traveled alongside white society, buoyed up by their admiration for her renowned family member. She gave a talk about her family’s work at the educational institution and conducted the South African Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra in Johannesburg, programming the heroic third movement of her concerto, titled: “In memory of my Father.” While a skilled pianist on her own, she never played as the soloist in her work. Rather, she always led as the leader; and so the segregated ensemble followed her lead.

Avril hoped, as she stated, she “might bring a change”. But by 1954, things fell apart. After authorities learned of her Black ancestry, she had to depart the nation. Her UK document offered no defense, the British high commissioner urged her to go or be jailed. She returned to England, embarrassed as the extent of her inexperience was realized. “The lesson was a difficult one,” she stated. Compounding her disgrace was the 1955 publication of her unfortunate magazine feature, a year after her sudden departure from that nation.

A Familiar Story

As I sat with these memories, I sensed a known narrative. The story of holding UK citizenship until it’s revoked – that brings to mind troops of color who defended the British in the second world war and lived only to be denied their due compensation. Along with the Windrush era,