Charles Kaufmann: 'On-Air from Chicago, September 4: Orchestra of The Longfellow Chorus Plays Coleridge-Taylor'

[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]

Longfellow Chorus Orchestra

The Longfellow Chorus
Portland, Maine

September 1, 2013

WHO: The Orchestra of The Longfellow Chorus, Charles Kaufmann, conductor, with Tai Murray and Lydia Forbes, violin soloists.

WHAT: Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto in G-minor, Op 80, and Keep Me From Sinkin' Down, for violin and orchestra.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 4, 2013, 12 noon to 3 pm, US Central Standard Time.

WHERE: Streaming live on the Web from WHPK 88.5 fm Chicago [WHPK.org/stream]. Sergio Mims is host.

Sometimes reviewers get it right; sometimes not. In his June 9, 1912, review of the Norfolk Music Festival for The New York Times, reviewer Richard Aldrich came to the conclusion that Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto in G-minor was "not of highest rank." In contrast, George Chadwick's symphonic fantasy, Aphrodite -- premiered at the Norfolk Festival at the same time and unknown today -- was "likely to prove of lasting value."

What makes a piece of music a long lasting one, or not, is difficult to judge first-hand. Aldrich did not mention that, as an encore to the concerto, Maud also premiered Coleridge-Taylor's short concert piece, Keep Me From Sinkin' Down, based on the African-American Jubilee Song of the same name. This work has been left unplayed for the last one hundred years by all but one or two knowledgeable and curious performers.

During The Longfellow Choral Festival in Merrill Auditorium, Portland, Maine, March 16, 2013, The Orchestra of The Longfellow Chorus performed both the Violin Concerto in G-minor and Keep Me From Sinkin' Down together on the same program for the first time since June 4, 1912. Tai Murray, from Berlin, Germany, by way of Chicago, was soloist for the concerto, and Lydia Forbes, from Maine, by way of the Netherlands, was soloist for the concert piece. (Alas: there was no reviewer present for first-hand judgment, right or wrong.)

I like to think of this as a groundbreaking performance. The orchestral parts for both works were prepared from Coleridge-Taylor's original manuscript full scores -- probably the very ones used at the premieres in 1912. This fascinating task kept me busy at my computer up until the eleventh hour. 

One of the most difficult things about conducting Coleridge-Taylor's music is getting everyone together on the numerous written-in tempo changes, otherwise known as rubato -- a defining musical element of the period. In this sense, because he indicated these in his scores, Coleridge-Taylor gives us a valuable primer on how to perform these fluctuations in tempo. Every serious conductor should study his scores for this: rubato is like an elastic band: as much as you stretch the music, you must allow it to return to its original form.

Well, you can stretch the limits and break ground as much as you want to; if no one else is present in your very fertile garden, who will know? 

Coleridge-Taylor himself cared very deeply about his concerto, his last major work. We know this from the legend that has taken hold about his final hours of life, a story that is told slightly differently by different tellers.

For example, in program notes written for a later performance of the concerto, Maud Powell describes it this way. [Thanks to Karen Shaffer of the Maud Powell Society for this quotation.] :

It is of pathetic interest to know that when he was on his deathbed [on September 1, 1912, one hundred and one years ago] he suddenly sat up and, with great effort, sang a part of the lovely second movement of the violin concerto, at the same time conducting an imaginary orchestral accompaniment with great animation.

You can talk about the history of music; you can talk about the history of humanity. Let's talk about both when we consider the life and music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.