× Upcoming Events Our Musicians Keeping You Safe Your At-Concert Guide Thank You to Our Donors Symphony Nova Scotia Foundation Land Acknowledgement Past Events
Home Our Musicians Keeping You Safe Your At-Concert Guide Thank You to Our Donors Symphony Nova Scotia Foundation Land Acknowledgement
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Novelletten for Strings and Percussion
Composed: 1903
Premiered: unknown
Duration: 21 minutes

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a talented and successful composer and conductor of Anglo/African descent. His career was supported by such prominent fellow English composers as Elgar and Stanford, but it was cut off by pneumonia when he was just 37. The cantatas for whose texts he drew upon American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha, detailing the lives of Native Americans, continue to be performed in England to this day. He also composed a considerable amount of instrumental music, including suites, rhapsodies, dances, and incidental scores for stage plays (including several by Shakespeare). Many of his works reflect African folk traditions. The Four Novelletten, which he composed in 1903, is filled with charm, warmth and sweet, appealing melodies. 

Program note by Don Anderson © 2022

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Novelletten for Strings and Percussion
Composed: 1903
Premiered: unknown
Duration: 21 minutes

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a talented and successful composer and conductor of Anglo/African descent. His career was supported by such prominent fellow English composers as Elgar and Stanford, but it was cut off by pneumonia when he was just 37. The cantatas for whose texts he drew upon American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha, detailing the lives of Native Americans, continue to be performed in England to this day. He also composed a considerable amount of instrumental music, including suites, rhapsodies, dances, and incidental scores for stage plays (including several by Shakespeare). Many of his works reflect African folk traditions. The Four Novelletten, which he composed in 1903, is filled with charm, warmth and sweet, appealing melodies. 

Program note by Don Anderson © 2022