'five works reconstructed from Coleridge-Taylor manuscripts will be presented during the March 13, 16 and 17 Longfellow Choral Festival'

[Above: Kerby Louis Roberson as the young Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in the film "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America, 1900–1912."]

[Above: First page of the manuscript full score of Coleridge-Taylor's "Don't Be Weary, Traveller," his orchestration of his original piano version in "24 Negro Melodies," Opus 59 (1905). Courtesy British Library.]

The Longfellow Chorus Portland, Maine March 2, 2013

This synthetic orchestra sound file will give you a  preview of Coleridge-Taylor's unpublished "Don't  Be Weary, Traveller," for orchestra. It is his  orchestration of the African-American melody  from his "24 Negro-Melodies," Opus 59 (1905)  and one of five Coleridge-Taylor works I've  reconstructed from manuscripts to be presented  during the March 13, 16 and 17 Longfellow  Choral Festival in Portland, Maine.—Charles  Kaufmann One of the many things that has excited me  about preparing for the March 13, 16 and 17  Longfellow Choral Festival in Nickelodeon  Theater and Merrill Auditorium, Portland,  Maine, has been experiencing numerous  Coleridge-Taylor manuscripts come to life  on my computer. I have so many of these, I  have neither time to edit them all, nor room  on the program. The latest, yesterday, is SC-T's  orchestration of "Don't Be Weary, Traveller,"   from his piano setting of this African  American spiritual in "24 Negro Melodies,"  (his piano version originally published in 1905  in Boston). The melody of "Don't Be Weary Traveller" was  first published by in 1867 in "Slave Songs of  the United States," edited by William Francis  Allen, an abolitionist Unitarian from  Massachusetts and an educator of freed slaves  during Reconstruction. It's interesting to note  that many of the songs we know as  spirituals and jubilee songs were collected and   published by white scholars in the years  immediately following the Civil War. Another  tune Coleridge-Taylor used, "Keep Me From  Sinkin' Down" — also on our Longfellow Choral  Festival program — was first collected by   Robbins Battell, the father of Ellen Battell,  who, along with her husband, Carl Stoeckel,  was SC-T's Norfolk patron. It is safe to say that it was Coleridge-Taylor  who first introduced the wider world in 1905 to  "Don't Be Weary Traveller" through his  concert piano version. The importance of  SC-T's "24 Negro Melodies" in influencing  other composers has gone unnoticed. Harry  T. Burleigh — who knew Coleridge-Taylor —  published his concert choral version of "Don't  Be Weary" in 1917. Robert Nathaniel Dett,  another African-American composer, published  his concert choral version in 1921. Both  composers would have studied SC-T's 24 Negro  Melodies. Coleridge-Taylor was an innovator in  those terms. Editing "Don't Be Weary" was a bit tricky.  I have SC-T's original manuscript, which is full  of cross-outs and whites-outs. Then I have  a copyist's manuscript signifying an attempt to  clarify what SC-T wrote on the original. During  the editing process, when I found an error  in the copyist's version, I turned to the   original SC-T score. When I couldn't read that,  I looked at the original piano version in 24  Negro Melodies. This usually solved the problem  and gave me some insight into SC-T's creative  process. Several times, he changed the harmony  and added material to his orchestra version.  It was usually pretty clear what his intention was  in terms of "What note is that?" or "What  harmony is that?" What is apparent in Coleridge-Taylor's "Don't  Be Weary Traveller" is his love at that age (30) of  experimentation with the "blue note," something  that would become a defining harmonic and  melodic element of classical jazz two and three  decades later. SC-T's orchestral version of "Don't Be Weary"  sounds like a miniature Dvorak symphony, and  wow, it is really beautiful. But once that settles in,  the listener recognizes that what this really sounds  like is Coleridge-Taylor. It provides a hint about  the type of orchestral works Coleridge-Taylor might  have expanded upon if he had lived beyond the age  of 37. All in all, five works reconstructed from Coleridge- Taylor manuscripts will be presented during the  March 13, 16 and 17 Longfellow Choral Festival in  Nickelodeon Theater and Merrill Auditorium,  Portland, Maine: "Violin Concerto in G-Minor,"  "Keep Me From Sinkin' Down," for violin and  orchestra, "Lament (They Will not Lend Me a  Child)," for violin and cello solo with orchestra  accompaniment, "Don't Be Weary Traveller,"  for orchestra, and "The Arrow and the Song,"  for tenor and piano. See you there ! Charles Kaufmann, artistic director The Longfellow Chorus PO Box 5133 Portland, Maine 04101