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Samuel Coleridge -Taylor (1875-1912) was born in Croydon, the son of a West African doctor and English mother. An eminent musician recognised his musical gift and sent him to the Royal College of Music where he studied under Stanford. He eventually became the first black professor of composition at the RCM and was highly regarded by Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Sullivan who said
“he was by far the cleverest among the young men”.
Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast shot him to fame and assured his reputation and gained him the affection of choral societies in Britain and USA.
He died tragically at the age of thirty-seven before fulfilling his true potential as a composer.
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