Was Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) '...the first major classical composer of African descent'?

[Padre José Mauricio Nunes Garcia: Te Deum and Requiem in D Minor, Music of the Court of Dom João VI; UFR Chorus and Symphony Orchestra (2008). Le Mozart Noir; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Jeanne Lamon, Conductor; CBC SMCD 5225 (2003)]

An online reference source, Encyclopedia.com, begins an article on the Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) with this statement: “The British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was the first major classical composer of African descent.” We strongly agree that Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a major classical composer. He was also of African descent and is profiled at AfriClassical.com. To say that he was “...the first major classical composer of African descent” is to disregard at least two earlier composers who are also featured at AfriClassical.com:

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), was an Afro-French composer who was among the most fashionable French composers in the decades before the French Revolution. His symphonies, violin concertos and string quartets are frequently performed and recorded today, especially in Europe. Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, under the direction of Jeanne Lamon, recorded Le Mozart Noir on CBC Records SMCD 5225 (2003). The works include Symphony in G Major, Op. 11, No. 1; Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 3, No. 1 as well as the overture and ballet excerpts from the comic opera L'amant anonyme.

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) was an Afro-Brazilian Catholic priest who composed the first Brazilian opera, Le Due Gemelle. Padre Garcia's liturgical works for voice and organ are regularly performed in Brazil and elsewhere today. His Requiem in D Minor, St. Cecilia's Mass and Missa Pastoril are among his important works. CDs include Padre José Mauricio Nunes Garcia: Te Deum and Requiem in D Minor, Music of the Court of Dom João VI; UFR Chorus and Symphony Orchestra (2008).

We believe it is very important that the full extent of African Heritage in Classical Music be communicated in reference works, so that students and others can understand that the history of classical music has long included composers of African descent. Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges and José Mauricio Nunes Garcia are not the earliest known composers of African descent, but they are among the major composers of color who preceded Samuel Coleridge Taylor.