Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - Hiawatha's Wedding Feast; The Bamboula (Kenneth Alwyn)

Information

Composer: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

• The Song of Hiawata, Op. 30: No. 1, Hiawatha's Wedding Feast
• The Bamboula, Op. 75

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

Kenneth Alwyn, conductor

Date: 1984/2025

Label: Warner Classics

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On 15 August, we will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), an atypical figure in British music who was one of the first Afro-descendants to achieve success as a composer. Supported and encouraged by the greatest musicians of his time (Elgar, Stanford, who was his teacher, Sullivan), he rose to fame in 1898 with the premiere of his cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, based on Longfellow's epic poem inspired by the traditions of the Ojibwe indigenous people. This work would be performed regularly for years to come and even brought him fame in America! One of his latest pieces, the rhapsodic dance The Bamboula, is also inspired by non-European traditions, in this case the rhythms and instruments imported to the Caribbean by African slaves.

Kenneth Alwyn (1925–2020) was an English conductor, composer, and writer. He began as a choirmaster and organist before studying conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. His career included leading the Radio Malaya Orchestra in Singapore and the Wellington Royal Choral Society in New Zealand. He later worked with the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden. Alwyn also recorded for Decca, worked in theatre, and performed internationally. His long-standing relationship with the BBC Concert Orchestra spanned over 40 years, contributing significantly to his diverse and global musical career.