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The composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor constantly bore the weight of her family heritage. As the offspring of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, one of the best-known British artists of the early 20th century, Avril’s identity was cloaked in the long shadows of bygone eras.

The First Recording

In recent months, I reflected on these memories as I made arrangements to record the world premiere recording of Avril’s 1936 piano concerto. With its impassioned harmonies, heartfelt tunes, and valiant rhythms, her composition will provide audiences valuable perspective into how this artist – a wartime composer born in 1903 – imagined her existence as a woman of colour.

Shadows and Truth

However about the past. It can take a while to acclimate, to perceive forms as they actually appear, to tell reality from misrepresentation, and I was reluctant to confront the composer’s background for some time.

I had so wanted Avril to be following in her father’s footsteps. In some ways, this was true. The rustic British sounds of parental inspiration can be heard in many of her works, including From the Hills (1934) and Sussex Landscape (1940). But you only have to examine the names of her parent’s works to see how he identified as both a standard-bearer of British Romantic style but a representative of the Black diaspora.

It was here that Samuel and Avril appeared to part ways.

The United States assessed the composer by the mastery of his art instead of the his ethnicity.

Samuel’s African Roots

While he was studying at the renowned institution, the composer – the offspring of a Sierra Leonean father and a white English mother – began embracing his heritage. When the Black American writer the renowned Dunbar came to London in the late 19th century, the young musician actively pursued him. He composed the poet’s African Romances to music and the following year incorporated his poetry for an opera, Dream Lovers. Then came the choral work that established his reputation: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.

Inspired by this American writer’s The Song of Hiawatha, the piece was an worldwide sensation, especially with Black Americans who felt shared pride as the majority judged Samuel by the quality of his compositions instead of the his race.

Advocacy and Beliefs

Fame did not reduce his beliefs. At the turn of the century, he was present at the First Pan African Conference in London where he made the acquaintance of the prominent scholar this influential figure and witnessed a range of talks, covering the mistreatment of Black South Africans. He remained an advocate throughout his life. He kept connections with early civil rights leaders like this intellectual and this leader, delivered his own speeches on racial equality, and even engaged in dialogue on issues of racism with President Theodore Roosevelt during an invitation to the presidential residence in the early 1900s. In terms of his art, Du Bois recalled, “he made his mark so prominently as a musician that it will endure.” He died in that year, at 37 years old. However, how would her father have reacted to his child’s choice to be in South Africa in the mid-20th century?

Issues and Stance

“Offspring of Renowned Musician expresses approval to S African Bias,” declared a title in the African American magazine Jet magazine. The system “struck me as the correct approach”, she informed Jet. When asked to explain, she backtracked: she was not in favor with the system “in principle” and it “should be allowed to resolve itself, guided by good-intentioned residents of diverse ethnicities”. Had Avril been more aligned to her parent’s beliefs, or from the US under segregation, she may have reconsidered about the policy. However, existence had shielded her.

Identity and Naivety

“I hold a UK passport,” she remarked, “and the government agents did not inquire me about my background.” Therefore, with her “porcelain-white” appearance (as Jet put it), she traveled 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 directed the national orchestra in Johannesburg, featuring the bold final section of her concerto, subtitled: “Dedicated to my Father.” Even though a accomplished player on her own, she never played as the lead performer in her concerto. Rather, she invariably directed as the leader; and so the segregated ensemble played under her baton.

Avril hoped, as she stated, she “could introduce a shift”. Yet in the mid-1950s, things fell apart. After authorities learned of her African heritage, she could no longer stay the land. Her citizenship failed to safeguard her, the UK representative advised her to leave or face arrest. She came home, deeply ashamed as the scale of her naivety was realized. “The realization was a hard one,” she expressed. Compounding her embarrassment was the release in 1955 of her controversial discussion, a year after her unceremonious exit from South Africa.

A Common Narrative

While I reflected with these shadows, I felt a known narrative. The account of identifying as British until it’s revoked – one that calls to mind troops of color who fought on behalf of the UK in the second world war and survived only to be not given their earned rewards. Including those from Windrush,