Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1904-11-18
COLR/DGE-TAYzOR
IN WASHINGTON
(By Robert Terrell.(

is an event of supreme importance
to colored Americans all over thi!
country. He comes to hear .h'
only society in the world that bear!
his name render his great work,
"Hiawatha." He himself will con
duct it, and this will be the first time
in his brilliant career that he ha:
welded the baton for a chorus com
posed entirely of men and women in
whose veins flow Negro blood-mer
women akin to him in this respect.
This great chorus of more than 2oc
voices will have the assistance oi
the famous Marine band, as we'll as
the inspiration that it must get from
the presence Of the great composer.
Convention Hall is the mos,
spacious auditorium in Washington,
and it is here that the concert will
take place on two nights, November
16 and 17,-"Hiavatha' on the first
night, and special works of Mr..
Coleridge- Taylor (that is bis name,
not Mr.. Taylor) ON the second night.
The success of the performance has
long been assured in financial way.
There has been big demand for
tickets, and people, white and black,
have exhibited the same anxiety to
obtain choice seats as they 90 for the
concerts of the great Boston Sym,
phony Orchestra. Of course all of
us, the singers and their friends, are
on the tiptoe of expectancy, anxious
to know what the renowned Cole
ridge Taylor will say about the
rendition of his work by "The
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral So
ciety." This organization has won
its way into the hearts Of the music
loving people of Washington. How
will it impress the genius and master
mind.
The Washington Post of today
gives this excellent account of Mr..
Coleridge-Taylor:
"ro reporter the composer talk
ed Interestingly of his career. He
began his education in music at the
early age of six with the study of
the violin, and was able to read
music before he could read the
alphabet. At the age of sixteen he
became student in the Royal COL
lege of Music in London, where he
continued the study of the violin for
nearly two and half years, when
his thoughts were turned in the di-
rection of composition by a scholar
ship which was offered for the best
musical composition, and his success
in securing this scholarship decided
his career. His instructor was the
celebrated Sir Charlie, Viliiers STAN
ford, the composer of the well-known
opera, "Shamus O Rrien."
"The attention of the general
public was first directed to S. Cole
ridge Taylor by the production a
the Gloucester festival of 1899 OF
an orchestral 'Ballade in A Minor
of his composition. This was fol.
lowed in about three months by the
first part of 'Hiawatha, a dramatic
cantata in three parts, which hast
made him famous, not only in Eng.
land, but also ia this country, and
which has been produced by the
Royal Choral Society, Of England,
the society of the first rank in thai
country, and which contains over
1000 voices.
"Just before his departure for thi,
country, the composer was appoint
ed director and conductor of the
Handel Choral Society, of l. ondon,
which, after the Royal Choral So.
ciety, is the most important choral
society in all Great Britain. This
society is composed, to large de-
gree, of members of the nobility,
and numbers among its members a
son of Gladstone.
GOT his own work S. Coleridge
Taylor thinks that his latest compo'
sition, sacred cantata called The
tonement,' is the best, though he
admits that many of the public pre-
fer .Hiawatha.
"1n appearance, though -colored
the composer has clear-cut delicate
features, and possesses face of th'
greatest intelligence; his figure il
slender and graceful, and his name
which is quite English, is mos
courteous and we'll He il
twenty-pine wears of age, havin)