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This talented musician constantly felt the burden of her parent’s heritage. Being the child of the renowned Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, one of the most famous UK musicians of the early 20th century, Avril’s reputation was enveloped in the lingering obscurity of bygone eras.

The First Recording

Earlier this year, I sat with these legacies as I prepared to record the world premiere recording of the composer’s concerto for piano composed in 1936. Featuring intense musical themes, expressive melodies, and bold rhythms, her composition will grant audiences fascinating insight into how she – a wartime composer born in 1903 – conceived of her existence as a female composer of color.

Shadows and Truth

Yet about shadows. It can take a while to adjust, to see shapes as they really are, to separate fact from distortion, and I was reluctant to face Avril’s past for a while.

I deeply hoped the composer to be a reflection of her father. Partially, that held. The rustic British sounds of Samuel’s influence can be heard in several pieces, such as From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). However, one need only look at the names of her family’s music to see how he identified as both a standard-bearer of English Romanticism as well as a voice of the African diaspora.

At this point Samuel and Avril seemed to diverge.

American society assessed the composer by the brilliance of his compositions instead of the his racial background.

Samuel’s African Roots

During his studies at the prestigious music college, Samuel – the son of a Sierra Leonean father and a white English mother – turned toward his background. At the time the African American poet this literary figure arrived in England in the late 19th century, the young musician actively pursued him. He composed Dunbar’s African Romances to music and the next year adapted his verses for a musical work, Dream Lovers. Then came the choral piece that put Samuel on the map: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, the piece was an global success, notably for African Americans who felt shared pride as the majority assessed his work by the quality of his compositions as opposed to the his race.

Advocacy and Beliefs

Fame did not reduce his beliefs. At the turn of the century, he attended the initial Pan African gathering in the UK where he made the acquaintance of the African American intellectual the renowned Du Bois and observed a variety of discussions, such as the subjugation of African people in South Africa. He remained an advocate until the end. He sustained relationships with trailblazers for equality including Du Bois and the educator Washington, delivered his own speeches on ending discrimination, and even engaged in dialogue on racial problems with President Theodore Roosevelt on a trip to the presidential residence in 1904. In terms of his art, the scholar reflected, “he established his reputation so prominently as a creative artist that it will endure.” He succumbed in the early 20th century, aged 37. Yet how might her father have made of his offspring’s move to work in the African nation in the mid-20th century?

Conflict and Policy

“Daughter of Famous Composer gives OK to S African Bias,” declared a title in the African American magazine Jet magazine. The system “struck me as the correct approach”, the composer stated Jet. When pushed to clarify, she backtracked: she was not in favor with apartheid “as a concept” and it “ought to be permitted to work itself out, guided by benevolent people of every background”. If Avril had been more aligned to her family’s principles, or raised in segregated America, she may have reconsidered about apartheid. But life had shielded her.

Background and Inexperience

“I have a UK passport,” she stated, “and the authorities did not inquire me about my race.” Therefore, with her “fair” skin (according to the magazine), she traveled alongside white society, buoyed up by their praise for her renowned family member. She presented about her family’s work at the Cape Town university and led the South African Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra in that location, including the inspiring part of her Piano Concerto, titled: “In remembrance of my Father.” Even though a skilled pianist on her own, she did not perform as the featured artist in her concerto. On the contrary, she always led as the maestro; and so the apartheid orchestra followed her lead.

The composer aspired, as she stated, she “might bring a transformation”. Yet in the mid-1950s, the situation collapsed. After authorities learned of her mixed background, she was forced to leave the land. Her British passport didn’t protect her, the diplomatic official advised her to leave or face arrest. She came home, feeling great shame as the extent of her innocence became clear. “The lesson was a hard one,” she expressed. Increasing her embarrassment was the release in 1955 of her ill-fated Jet interview, a year after her unceremonious exit from the country.

A Familiar Story

While I reflected with these memories, I perceived a recurring theme. The story of holding UK citizenship until you’re not – that brings to mind Black soldiers who fought on behalf of the UK in the World War II and survived only to be denied their due compensation. Along with the Windrush era,