*This week our musical spotlight shines on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was also known as the African Mahler. Samuel was born in 1875 to an English mother and his father was a Creole physician from Sierra Leone.
Samuel’s claim to fame was the composition of Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast; three cantatas based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Song of Hiawatha.”
He toured the United States three times in the early 1900’s; which was unheard of at the time. He mastered the violin by the time he was ten years old, he frequently performed in church and he studied at the Royal College of Music in London.
He is said to have worked with Paul Laurence Dunbar, W. E. B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington. Samuel fathered two children, who also pursued careers in music.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died on September 1st 1912, and he is one of 40 gifted artists featured in the Rachel Baron Pine Foundation’s Coloring Book of Black Composers, with Illustrations by Sho-mea Pelletier. The coloring book and numerous other artistic and inspirational items are available at MusicGiftsUSA.com. Promo code: jazzyrita
In 1979 June was declared Black Music Month by President Jimmy Carter and in 2009 President Barack Obama officially renamed it African American Music Appreciation Month. The Electronic Urban Report salutes musicians and artists past, present and future. EURweb is also offering special promo options for indie artists. Contact: [email protected]
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