- Dated 1901, Coleridge-Taylor wrote his concert overture, Toussaint L’Ouverture, as an homage to Haitian general Toussaint Louverture, who was a Black leader of the Haitian Revolution.
- Toussaint’s last name provided an opportunity for a bit of wordplay for the piece, which is in fact an overture.
- Until very recently, Toussaint L’Ouverture was unknown to modern listeners. The first-ever recording of the piece took place in 2023 by the composer’s alma mater, the Royal College of Music.1
Sources
- Sarah Godcher Murphy, “Sounds of Black History at Symphony Hall,” Boston Conservatory at Berklee (2024), accessed September 9, 2025, https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/news/sounds-of-black-history-at-symphony-hall.
Cut IDs
27273