is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which
features a comprehensive Works List and a
Bibliography by Dr. Dominique- René de Lerma,
Charles Kaufmann writes:
Hi Bill,
You
might let people know that for a limited time I am making my two-hour
film "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America, 1900–1912"
available for free public viewing via Vimeo:
Charles
Comments by email:
1) Thanks, Bill. As you know, there are a number of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor pieces in this film
that have never before been recorded, not to mention filmed. [Charles Kaufmann, Longfellow Chorus]
After
seeing the previews on You Tube, I was intrigued by what may be within
the 2 hour film. This is a truly superb production with some very moving
dialogue and some incredibly musical performances. The film portrayed a
major difference in racial attitudes between those found in America and
England during late Victorian and Edwardian times. It was quite stark
and I believe, very well researched. The major point made that
Coleridge-Taylor died at the point when he was musically approaching
maturity. Both Elgar and Vaughan Williams (cited in the film) did not
produce their best works until after the age of 40.
The
point made about the decline in the popularity of Coleridge-Taylor’s
music is unclear and I have never been quite convinced that this was due
to racism. Sir Malcolm Sargent’s efforts in the first part of the
century to keep ‘Hiawatha’ alive and kicking led to the work being
performed widely by amateur groups. This probably led to some pretty
poor performances and this may have helped to lead others to
‘undervalue’ the work. Novello ripped off Coleridge Taylor when he had
to sell the rights to ‘Hiawatha’ for a flat fee of £25 15s, that is
about £2,800 in present terms after inflation. This must have been
another factor and was symptomatic of the attitude of publishers. I the
first part of the 20th century, there was a great popularity
of his ‘lighter’ works. These were basically 3-minute pieces that
fitted nicely on the side of a 10 inch 78rpm record. Unfortunately, the
popularity of these works emerged after the composer’s death. In the
face of the big works by the likes of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Gustav
Holst and others of the period, this led to some people dismissing, the
musical value of Coleridge Taylor’s they heard as simply ‘popular
music’. I myself recall the ‘palm court’ style broadcasts of some of
Coleridge Taylor’s music by the BBC ‘Light Programme’ in the 1950’s,
long before I had any perception of the composer’s racial origins. In
other words, the media and uninformed musical attitudes led to the
decline. The fact that Coleridge-Taylor’s music became largely ignored
for the next 40 years or so is not surprising. Commendably, the film did
not focus on this aspect.
The
last chapters of the film were really enlightening. The performance of
‘Keep Me from Sinking Down’ on the film drew me to tears in the same way
that Coleridge Taylor’s working of the theme in the central movement of
his violin concerto. I was so glad that the film emphasised the point
that Coleridge Taylor had an amazing understanding of the violin and
that Maud Powell did much to gain recognition of the fact. The 1911
recording of Maud Powell and the superimposition of Rachel Barton-Pine’s
performance was an amazing technical achievement that highlighted this
so vividly. I await a recording of the concerto by Rachel as I know that
she could produce a definitive version. As an aside, looking at English
music in general, there are in fact very few violin concertos that
match the stature of the one by Coleridge Taylor. I can only think of
the one written by Elgar a couple of years earlier and premiered by
Fritz Kreisler that reaches this. In my view, the concertos by Delius
and Vaughan Williams fall well below this stature.
These
are my ramblings following my deep appreciation of the truly great
documentary film "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America,
1900–1912". I look forward to a sequel to show the composers work in
England. Kind regards, Mike [Michael S. Wright]
3) Thanks, Mike, for
your thoughtful ramblings. It's always encouraging to get positive
feedback on the film. I had a couple of well-placed contacts in London
working on getting a screening at RCM, but this apparently fell through.
What you saw is not the final version. I have several additional
interview snippets to edit in at some point in the future. Responses
like yours are helpful as I contemplate making the final cut of the
documentary. Charles Kaufmann
