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This talented musician always bore the pressure of her family heritage. As the daughter of the renowned Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, among the prominent British artists of the early 20th century, her identity was cloaked in the long shadows of the past.

An Inaugural Recording

Not long ago, I reflected on these shadows as I prepared to make the world premiere recording of her piano concerto from 1936. Featuring emotional harmonies, heartfelt tunes, and valiant rhythms, this piece will grant new listeners valuable perspective into how the composer – an artist in conflict born in 1903 – conceived of her existence as a woman of colour.

Past and Present

Yet about the past. It requires time to adapt, to perceive forms as they actually appear, to separate fact from misrepresentation, and I felt hesitant to address Avril’s past for a while.

I had so wanted Avril to be following in her father’s footsteps. Partially, this was true. The rustic British sounds of her father’s impact can be heard in many of her works, for example From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). Yet it suffices to review the titles of her family’s music to understand how he identified as both a flag bearer of UK romantic tradition as well as a advocate of the Black diaspora.

At this point Samuel and Avril began to differ.

White America judged Samuel by the brilliance of his art rather than the his ethnicity.

Parental Heritage

As a student at the Royal College of Music, Samuel – the son of a African father and a Caucasian parent – started to lean into his African roots. When the African American poet the renowned Dunbar came to London in 1897, the young musician actively pursued him. He composed the poet’s African Romances into music and the subsequent year incorporated his poetry for an opera, Dream Lovers. Subsequently arrived the choral piece that put Samuel on the map: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Drawing from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, the piece was an international hit, particularly among the Black community who felt shared pride as the majority assessed his work by the quality of his compositions rather than the his race.

Advocacy and Beliefs

Fame did not reduce Samuel’s politics. In 1900, he attended the initial Pan African gathering in England where he made the acquaintance of the prominent scholar the renowned Du Bois and saw a series of speeches, including on the oppression of Black South Africans. He remained an advocate throughout his life. He maintained ties with trailblazers for equality like Du Bois and Booker T Washington, gave addresses on ending discrimination, and even discussed matters of race with President Theodore Roosevelt during an invitation to the White House in the early 1900s. Regarding his compositions, Du Bois recalled, “he wrote his name so prominently as a musician that it will endure.” He passed away in 1912, at 37 years old. But what would the composer have reacted to his daughter’s decision to be in the African nation in the 1950s?

Issues and Stance

“Daughter of Famous Composer shows support to apartheid system,” ran a headline in the community journal Jet magazine. Apartheid “appeared to me the right policy”, she informed Jet. When asked to explain, she backtracked: she didn’t agree with this policy “in principle” and it “ought to be permitted to resolve itself, guided by benevolent residents of diverse ethnicities”. Had Avril been more attuned to her father’s politics, or born in Jim Crow America, she might have thought twice about apartheid. Yet her life had protected her.

Identity and Naivety

“I hold a English document,” she said, “and the government agents never asked me about my background.” Therefore, with her “porcelain-white” skin (as described), she moved alongside white society, supported by their admiration for her deceased parent. She gave a talk about her father’s music at the educational institution and conducted the South African Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra in the city, featuring the bold final section of her Piano Concerto, titled: “In remembrance of my Father.” While a skilled pianist on her own, she avoided playing as the lead performer in her concerto. Rather, she invariably directed as the conductor; and so the segregated ensemble played under her baton.

She desired, as she stated, she “may foster a change”. Yet in the mid-1950s, the situation collapsed. Once officials learned of her mixed background, she was forced to leave the nation. Her UK document didn’t protect her, the UK representative recommended her departure or face arrest. She came home, deeply ashamed as the scale of her inexperience became clear. “This experience was a hard one,” she expressed. Adding to her humiliation was the 1955 publication of her unfortunate magazine feature, a year after her forced leaving from that nation.

A Recurring Theme

As I sat with these legacies, I perceived a recurring theme. The account of being British until it’s challenged – which recalls troops of color who served for the UK during the global conflict and lived only to be not given their earned rewards. Along with the Windrush era,