Born in London on August 15, 1875 to a white Englishwoman, who named her son for the famous Romantic poet—and with a father from Sierra Leone, descended from African slaves—Samuel Coleridge-Taylor would become the first musician in England of African descent to achieve international status. As a composer and conductor he would becomes a sensation in his native England—and this success would spread to America as well, where he made three different tours and became known as the "African Mahler."
On Tuesday afternoon's Classical Music with Foley Schuler. we'll remember this fascinating composer on the anniversary of his all-too-early death at the age of 37 on September 1, 1912, with one of on his best known and loved works, the cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, and more.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
