Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (Malcolm Sargent)

Information

Composer: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

• (01-09) Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, cantata, Op. 30 No. 1
• (10-13) Petite Suite de Concert, Op. 77
• (14) The Bamboula - Rhapsodic Dance, Op. 75

(01-09) Richard Lewis, tenor
Royal Choral Society
Philharmonia Orchestra
Malcolm Sargent, conductor

(10-13) Philharmonia Orchestra
George Weldon, conductor

(14) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Alwyn, conductor

Date: 1962, 1963 & 1984
Label: EMI

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

This is another disc that brings back fond memories of my classical music discovery. This relates to the 'Petite Suite de Concert' which used to form part of an old Classics for Pleasure LP that I used to play for hours on end so it is good to have it back on CD.

The main work on this disc is the cantata, 'Hiawatha's Wedding Feast', one of Sir Malcolm Sargent's truly classic recordings. There is fire and brimstone in the music and Sargent captures all with masterful composure throughout especially in the lovely choral singing.

The other piece recorded here is 'The Bamboula', a delightful Rhapsodic Dance that is also very colourful and beautiful. Recordings are excellent in every department with the older works having some slight background hiss. A disc for all English music lovers.

-- Gerald Fenech © 2005, Classical Net

More reviews:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hiawathas-Wedding-Petite-Concert-Sargent/dp/B0009WES52
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Jan14/ColeridgeT_Hiawatha_HTGCD249.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 1875 – 1 September 1912) was an English composer of Sierra Leone Creole descent who achieved such success that he was once called the "African Mahler" by New York musicians. He was particularly known for his three cantatas based on the epic poem, Song of Hiawatha. Coleridge-Taylor also composed chamber music, anthems, and the African Dances for violin, among other works. The Petite Suite de Concert is still regularly played. Coleridge-Taylor was greatly admired by African Americans, with public schools were named after him in Louisville and Baltimore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Coleridge-Taylor

***

Malcolm Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. He was co-founder of the London Philharmonic, the first conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic as a full-time ensemble, and played an important part in saving the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from disbandment in the 1960s. Sargent was chief conductor of London's internationally famous summer music festival the Proms from 1948 to 1967. He toured widely throughout the world, and was noted for his skill as a conductor and his championship of British composers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Sargent

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!