PROGRAM NOTES by Pam Davis, Assistant Concertmaster
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912)
Petite Suite de Concert, Opus 77 (1910)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in Victorian England the son of an African doctor and an Englishwoman. After his father returned to Africa, Coleridge-Taylor grew up with his mother and grandparents who encouraged his musical interest. He studied violin and piano at The Royal College of Music, where he was a classmate of Vaughan-Williams. Dvořák was Coleridge-Taylor’s idol and his influence is said to be evident in some shorter works. Among his great compositional output, the work to make him famous was his critically acclaimed Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. After his death his works remained popular and years later, his son Hiawatha and his daughter Avril, who were also musicians conducted some of his works. Before Coleridge-Taylor even visited the United States, a Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society was founded in Washington, D.C. for black singers. Three subsequent visits cemented his popularity where he was received by Theodore Roosevelt at the White House and became friends with W.E.B. Dubois. Dubois stated that the life and achievement of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor showed what could happen if the artificial restraints placed on African American children were removed. The international sensation lived in relative poverty; his tragic death from pneumonia at 37 years old was said to be caused by exhaustion from overwork. Primarily a light composition, the Petite Suite has been said to be somewhere between Elgar and Arthur Sullivan, his elder contemporaries. Elgar helped Coleridge-Taylor get published and described him as “far and away the cleverest fellow going amongst the younger men.” Opening with a bold announcement, the first movement, La Caprice de Nanette, relaxes into a charming waltz. Demande et Réponse, the second movement, has a melody reminiscent of popular songs of the day. A peaceful ballet-like interlude follows with Un Sonnet d’Amour. The final movement, Tarantella Frétillante, erupts in a mad dash to the finish with its ‘fretting tarantella’. e WORLD EVENTS: Stravinsky’s Firebird premieres in Paris, Mother Teresa is born, Florence Nightingale dies e FIRST PERFORMANCE: April 20, 1911, Bournemouth, England e MOST RECENT SSO PERFORMANCE: Tonight is the SSO premiere
Antonin Dvořák (1841 -1904)
Slavonic Dances, Opus 46 (1878)
Born to a Bohemian peasant family, Dvořák was apprenticed to his butcher father until his musical interest and ability were recognized, when his family agreed to his pursuit of a musical career. For the Slavonic Dances which catapulted Dvořák to fame, he indirectly had Brahms to thank. Brahms had recommended Dvořák to his publisher, who then commissioned him to write a set of dances in the style of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances. His first extended use of authentic Czech dance forms, this set was originally for piano four hands, then imme48
