Reynard Burns Conducts Island Symphony Orchestra in 'Petite Suite de Concert' of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in Brentwood, NY 3 PM Sunday, May 5, 2013

[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]

Reynard Burns

Reynard Burns writes:

Hello Bill,

I will be conducting the Island Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Petite Suite Op. 77 on Sunday May 5. The performance will be held at Suffolk Cpommunity College on in Brentwood NY (Long Island) starting at 3:00 PM.

Thank you again for your support.

Reynard

The Island Symphony Orchestra 

Annual Spring Concert

Sunday, May 5, 2013
3:00PM
at the
Van Nostrand Theatre
of
Suffolk Community College
1001 Crooked Hill Rd
Brentwood NY 11797

Samuel Coleridge Taylor - Petite Suite de Concert 

Featuring Guest Conductor, Reynard Burns

Samuel Coleridge Taylor (not to be mistaken with the writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge) was, at the end of the 19^th Century, one of Britain’s most outstanding composers, often referred to respectfully as the “African Mahler.” Born in 1875 of a West African doctor and a British mother, Coleridge-Taylor belonged to two decidedly different cultures that influenced his compositional style: the classical tradition that dominated his training at the UK’s Royal College of Music, and the African and African-American folk music introduced to him through his father's heritage.  At the age of 22 he achieved fame by composing his most famous work: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, a piece of music described as “One of the most remarkable events in English musical history.”  A prolific composer during his short lifetime (he died at age 37), he received great public acclaim and became known both nationally and internationally with a published opus of twenty-nine compositions. Besides more ambitious works, he composed lighter compositions, of which the most enduring was the Petite Suite de Concert (1910), a work that set a standard for many subsequent four-movement suites. It begins with the coquettish ‘La caprice de Nanette’ and continues with its most familiar movement, ‘Demande et réponse’, a work of Elgarian grace whose ongoing popularity led to its arrangement as a song ‘Question and Answer’. The third movement, ‘Un sonnet d’amour’ (‘A Love Sonnet’) is a lyrical serenade, while the final ‘Tarantelle frétillante’ (‘Frisky Tarantella’) provides a suitably lively conclusion.