Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Aug. 15, 1875 - Sept. 1, 1912) was born in London, England, to Alice Hare Martin, an English woman, and Dr. Daniel Peter Hughes Taylor, from Sierre Leone. They were not married, and Daniel Taylor returned to Africa before 1875, not even knowing he had a son. Martin named her son after the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and was raised in Croydon, Surrey by his mother, and her father. Coleridge-Taylor studied violin at the Royal College of Music, and was later on appointed a professor at the Crystal Palace School of Music, and conducted the orchestra at the Croyden Conservatory.

Coleridge-Taylor wrote for various genres, such as choral works, symphonies, piano works, and few for violin and piano, including Four African Dances. This four movement work was composed in 1904 for his friend John Saunders, a violinist, and while it sounds like a late-Romanic era piece, the second movement is based on a traditional African folk melody.

The first movement, Allegro, has a dotted theme in G minor as the opening and main motif and soon afterwards open to a lyrical theme that switches to major. The main theme has an intensity about it that is contrasted highly by the soaring lyrical part.

Movement two, Andantino molto sostenuto e dolce is in F major, is rich and expressive with a beautiful melody.

The third movement  Allegro con brio in A major is bright and cheerful, with a line that is constantly on the move.

The final movement, Allegro energico is in D minor, but with a different intensity than the first movement which was also in a minor key, but just as lyrical.

Here are some recordings of this work for you to enjoy!

David Juritz
John Fadial