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This talented musician continually felt the pressure of her parent’s heritage. As the offspring of the celebrated composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a leading the most famous British composers of the turn of the 20th century, her reputation was cloaked in the lingering obscurity of history.

A World Premiere

Not long ago, I reflected on these memories as I made arrangements to record the inaugural album of Avril’s 1936 piano concerto. Featuring intense musical themes, heartfelt tunes, and bold rhythms, Avril’s work will grant music lovers deep understanding into how this artist – a composer during war originating from the early 1900s – conceived of her existence as a female composer of color.

Past and Present

Yet about shadows. One needs patience to acclimate, to recognize outlines as they truly exist, to distinguish truth from distortion, and I felt hesitant to address Avril’s past for a while.

I deeply hoped Avril to be a reflection of her father. To some extent, that held. The pastoral English palettes of Samuel’s influence can be heard in numerous compositions, including From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). Yet it suffices to look at the titles of her family’s music to understand how he viewed himself as both a flag bearer of British Romantic style as well as a advocate of the African diaspora.

This was where father and daughter appeared to part ways.

White America assessed the composer by the mastery of his compositions instead of the his racial background.

Samuel’s African Roots

While he was studying at the renowned institution, her father – the child of a Sierra Leonean father and a Caucasian parent – started to lean into his African roots. Once the poet of color this literary figure arrived in England in that era, the aspiring artist was keen to meet him. He composed Dunbar’s African Romances to music and the following year used the poet’s words for a musical work, Dream Lovers. This was followed by the choral composition that established his reputation: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Inspired by this American writer’s The Song of Hiawatha, Samuel’s Hiawatha was an international hit, particularly among Black Americans who felt vicarious pride as the majority evaluated the composer by the quality of his compositions instead of the his background.

Activism and Politics

Recognition did not reduce Samuel’s politics. At the turn of the century, he attended the First Pan African Conference in England where he made the acquaintance of the Black American thinker the renowned Du Bois and saw a series of speeches, covering the mistreatment of the Black community there. He remained an advocate to his final days. He maintained ties with trailblazers for equality such as this intellectual and Booker T Washington, spoke publicly on ending discrimination, and even talked about racial problems with the US President while visiting to the presidential residence in 1904. In terms of his art, reminisced Du Bois, “he made his mark so high as a creative artist that it cannot soon be forgotten.” He passed away in the early 20th century, at 37 years old. However, how would Samuel have made of his offspring’s move to work in the African nation in the 1950s?

Conflict and Policy

“Child of Celebrated Artist shows support to South African policy,” declared a title in the African American magazine Jet magazine. The system “seems to me the right policy”, Avril told Jet. When asked to explain, she qualified her remarks: she did not support with the system “as a concept” and it “ought to be permitted to run its course, guided by well-meaning South Africans of every background”. Were the composer more attuned to her father’s politics, or raised in the US under segregation, she could have hesitated about apartheid. However, existence had protected her.

Identity and Naivety

“I hold a British passport,” she said, “and the officials never asked me about my background.” Thus, with her “fair” appearance (according to the magazine), she traveled among the Europeans, supported by their admiration for her late father. She delivered a lecture about her father’s music at the educational institution and directed the broadcasting ensemble in the city, featuring the heroic third movement of her Piano Concerto, named: “In remembrance of my Father.” Even though a confident pianist on her own, she avoided playing as the featured artist in her concerto. Rather, she always led as the leader; and so the apartheid orchestra performed under her direction.

The composer aspired, as she stated, she “could introduce a shift”. But by 1954, things fell apart. Once officials learned of her mixed background, she had to depart the country. Her UK document failed to safeguard her, the diplomatic official urged her to go or be jailed. She returned to England, deeply ashamed as the magnitude of her inexperience was realized. “The realization was a painful one,” she stated. Increasing her humiliation was the 1955 publication of her unfortunate magazine feature, a year after her unceremonious exit from the country.

A Recurring Theme

While I reflected with these shadows, I sensed a known narrative. The account of being British until it’s challenged – one that calls to mind Black soldiers who served for the UK during the second world war and survived only to be not given their earned rewards. Including those from Windrush,