[Samuel
Coleridge Taylor's portrait was painted when he was about 7. Emil
Hoppe photographed the composer in 1912, shortly before his death.]
Dr.
Jan Marsh is on the staff of the National Portrait Gallery of the
United Kingdom. Her blog describes her as “Writer and Curator
author of biography and art history.”
Jan
Marsh
Tuesday,
17 July 2012
COMPOSER
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died of pneumonia 100 years ago this summer –
1912 was apparently very wet and cold too. He was only 37 and
although already a musical celebrity it was probably too early for a
formal portrait so this small, gravely observed head study is the
only painting of him. When he was about seven, he was asked to pose
for a group of artists in Croydon, where he lived. He must have
impressed them with his self-possession. He seems to have been one
whose talents drove achievement without egotism; despite his very
modest background he appears never to have doubted his life's work.
Right
at the other end of his life, just a few weeks before his death, he
sat to the rising photographer Emil Hoppe, who this year created
striking portraits of many figures in the arts world who were making
names for themselves, including Marinetti, the visiting Futurist and
poseur, and Karsavina, star of the Ballets Russes. Coleridge-Taylor
was still pushing forward, with a completed but as yet unstaged
opera, and an orchestral work due for performance at the Proms (then
held in the autumn). With Hello Ragtime and Stravinsky both on the
stage, and Post-Impressionists and Fauvistes in the galleries, it was
a moment of extraordinary cultural dynamism to which had he lived
Coleridge-Taylor would have made a unique contribution. African
themes and Gospel music were among his inspirations.
Both
these works feature in a display at the NPG [Room 29] to mark the
centenary. Other items include a newspaper double-spread featuring
contemporary musical generations - the elders including Stanford,
Parry and Elgar, the youngsters including Coleridge-Taylor and Ethel
Smyth – though not Vaughan Williams or Gustav Holst, both fellow
students of Coleridge-Taylor at the RCM, but who had yet to become
known.
[Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com,
which features a comprehensive Works List and a Bibliography by Prof.
Dominique-René de Lerma, www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com.
We are collaborating
with the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation of the U.K.,
www.SCTF.org.uk]
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