From the Archives: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

(London 15 August 1875 – London 1 September 1912) 

Annotated proof sheets of the vocal score and string parts of The Death of Minnehaha, no.2 of Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha. This section of the Scenes was first performed at the North Staffordshire Music Festival in Hanley on 26 October 1899.

Stamped by the publisher Novello and Co., dated 20 May 1899, with annotations and corrections by the in-house editor(s) and by the composer.

The vocal part shows the late stage of the process of producing printed copies with only a handful of slight amendments, including the one correction on p.23.

The string parts, however, are littered with amendments, questions, alterations and improvements, with questions to the composer and his replies given in a thinner-nibbed pen using a less bright red ink.

The text is from the epic trilogy The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882); following the success of the Scenes, in 1900 the composer’s son was born named Hiawatha.

These manuscripts were presented to the RSM by Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1998), daughter of the composer, who was a composer and conductor.  She had composition lessons from Gordon Jacob and Alec Rowley and made her conducting début in 1933 at the Royal Albert Hall, later being guest conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.