Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Orchestral Works (CD Review)

by Ryan Ross

Coleridge-Taylor: Ethiopia Saluting the Colours, Op. 51; Solemn Prelude, Op. 40; Zara’s Earrings, Op. 7; Idyll, Op. 44; Ballade for Violin and Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 4; Nero, Op. 61: Entr’acte; Romance in B for String Orchestra. Rebecca Murphy, soprano; Ioana Petcu-Colan, violin; Charles Peebles, conductor; Ulster Orchestra. SOMM Recordings SOMMCD 0713.

The last time I reviewed a SOMM disc here (British Piano Quintets, SOMMCD 0707) I waxed philosophical about listening to neglected repertoire. Much of the pleasant music on that particular recording, I wrote, probably stands little chance of escaping its obscurity. Well, here is another SOMM disc featuring obscure stuff. In fact, four out of seven pieces offered on it receive their premiere recordings. The difference is that this venture is devoted to a single excellent composer: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912). And it consistently shows him capitalizing on his considerable gifts.

Some composers, such as Mozart, were great at pretty much everything they tried. Plenty of others were uniformly mediocre. Still others were at least competent at everything, while shining brightest in certain genres. I’d say Coleridge-Taylor was in the latter category. He was very good at composing in the larger, classically inherited forms – certainly equal to a Wieniawski or a Reinecke. But he was even better at shorter pieces – both standalone items and those appearing under larger titles. To listen to a work like the Ballade for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 4 (included here) is to be decently impressed with his craft. But to listen to the numbers in Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast (not included here) is to witness a little something extra at play, and to be hopeful that revived interest in him eventually leads to his best music reclaiming the respected place it once had.

 

A glance at the tracks of this recording shows that, with the exception of the Ballade, each selection clocks in at under 10 minutes. No fewer than four fall within the narrow 9:30 to 9:50 window. Orchestrally speaking, this seems to have been something of a sweet spot for Coleridge-Taylor. In this span he could weave and contrast his often highly memorable melodies. The march Ethiopia Saluting the Colours was inspired by the eponymous poem by Walt Whitman, which concerns a former slave saluting the American flag during William Tecumseh Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” But what I hear despite this information is an Edwardian processional equal to the Pomp and Circumstance collection in its flair and tunefulness. The Solemn Prelude, Idyll, and Romance in B are all sumptuously lyrical. This last piece, a bit shorter at 6:31, recasts for strings a movement from the composer’s Clarinet Quintet. It works perfectly. Rounding out the 9-minute-and-change group is the first Entr’acte from incidental music to Stephen Phillips’s play Nero. This is peak Coleridge-Taylor: vivid, evocative music in service of a story. I hope concert programmers are paying attention. Fare like this provides ample opportunity to vary and revitalize the live listening experience.

 

That leaves the “Moorish Ballad for Soprano Voice and Orchestra” titled Zara’s Earrings. Set to verses by John Gibson Lockhart, which are at turns amusing and poignant, this is the sole vocal selection of the album. Despite being an early work, it already shows Coleridge-Taylor’s predilection for text-setting. (The liner notes by Jeremy Dibble, a stellar musicologist, tell us that this was also the composer’s first experience writing for orchestra.) The music fits the poem wonderfully, and soprano Rebecca Murphy hits all the right expressive targets in this first recorded performance. I am certain that recalling the repeated exclamation “My earrings!” will bring a smile to my face for years to come.

 

It will be apparent by now that I consider this a terrific release in the growing Coleridge-Taylor discography. We knew from previous entries that he is a composer whose oeuvre well repays investment. Now we have an even greater recorded body of repertoire that shows him at his best. The whole business exemplifies why we should be listening widely and giving lesser-known repertoire a chance. If we can’t do that, I see little but a moribund future for classical music.