From Three Short
Pieces for Organ.
Composed by Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor.
Arranged by Robert
Debbaut. Cas. Full score.
Duration 3 minutes. Carl
Fischer Music #CAS160F.
Published by Carl Fischer
Music (CF.CAS160F).
ISBN 9781491165454.
UPC: 680160924363. Key: C
major.
The story of
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
is of a rising star
composer, one with a
significant gift for
melody and a simple
lyricism, who embraced
the previously unexplored
song and dance forms from
his father’s
native west Africa and
incorporated them into
his own very European art
music. Coleridge-Taylor
began playing the violin
at age five and by age
fifteen wasadmitted to
London’s Royal
College of Music, where
he studied both violin
and composition and
composed his first works.
The simply-titled Melody
is taken from Three Short
Pieces for Organ - a set
of pieces originally
published in
Novello’s Album
for the Organ, No. 3
(1898). While certainly
typical of the late 19th
century, many of
Coleridge-Taylor's
creations display
inspiration by African
musical elements much
like spirituals inspired
Dvořák’s
“New Worldâ€
Symphony.
Organ SKU: ST.H491 Composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Organ music. With...(+)
Organ
SKU: ST.H491
Composed by Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor. Organ
music. With an
introduction by Richard
Hills. Score. Stainer &
Bell Ltd. #H491.
Published by Stainer &
Bell Ltd. (ST.H491).
ISBN
9790220224874.
Orga
nist Richard Hills
introduces this reissue
of a neglected Edwardian
classic with a timely
note on
performance-style, the
composer and his works.
Varied in colour and
mood, and written with an
idiomatic command of the
instrument, these
Three Impromptus
reinforce the impression
of Coleridge-Taylor not
only as a versatile
presence on the Edwardian
scene, but also as a
composer whose music is
an enduring part of our
British musical
heritage.
Stylistically
, the Three
Impromptus bear a
closer resemblance to the
composer's theatrical
works than to those
intended for the church
or concert hall. This
light-hearted approach to
organ composition is all
the more striking when
one compares these pieces
with others written
during the same period by
Coleridge-Taylor's
colleagues and teachers,
many of whom were heavily
influenced by the German
Romantic tradition of
Josef Rheinberger and Max
Reger. As original
compositions (as opposed
to transcriptions) the
Three Impromptus
should prove an
invaluable addition to
the repertoire for
recitalists wishing to
programme sophisticated
lighter fare that has
immediate appeal.
(Organ Music of Black Composers, Past and Present). By Various. Edited by James ...(+)
(Organ Music of Black
Composers, Past and
Present). By Various.
Edited by James
Abbington. For Organ.
Sacred. Medium/Difficult.
60 pages. Published by
GIA Publications