Charles Elford: 'My aim has always been to help bring Coleridge-Taylor, the man, back to the fore of our collective consciousness.'

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)]

On September 4, 2012 AfriClassical posted: “GenealogyFinders: 'I asked if there were any of Samuel's descendants here and was surprised to see a couple of hands shoot up.'” 

Today Charles Elford made this comment:

“I am so pleased this blogger enjoyed the National Portrait Gallery talk last month. My aim has always been to help bring Coleridge-Taylor, the man, back to the fore of our collective consciousness. He really doesn’t deserve to be deemed ‘obscure’. 

He was held in such high regard and with such affection by those who were there with him at the time that it seemed fitting to base my book around those accounts of him by his wife, daughter and friends. 

In my talk, I actually only read from the book written by Coleridge-Taylor’s friend, the Croydon librarian W C Berwick Sayers, ‘Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Musician; his Life & Letters’ (Augener Ltd, 1927). I received such a wonderfully warm response to the talk. Many thanks to you for posting these kind comments.

Charles Elford

Author of ‘Black Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story'

[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]