African Suite, Op. 35

Composer: COLERIDGE-TAYLOR, Samuel
  • African Suite was written in 1898 and contains four movements for piano:
    1. Introduction. Allegro alla marcia
    2. A Negro Love Song. Larghetto
    3. Valse. Allegro con brio
    4. Danse nègre. Allegro assai1
  • *Note: Orchestral arrangements of this piece have been created by other composers over time.
  • The work as a whole was inspired by the writings of African American poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. After meeting the poet in London, Coleridge-Taylor was inspired to integrate African tradition into classical music, similarly to how Brahms had integrated Hungarian music into his works and Dvořák with Bohemian music.2

Sources

  1. “African Suite, Op.35 (Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel),” IMSLP, accessed February 4, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/African_Suite,_Op.35_(Coleridge-Taylor,_Samuel).
  2. Robert Abbey, “Composer and Program Notes,” Oregon Symphony: Stories in Music (2018), accessed February 4, 2025, https://www.orsymphony.org/globalassets/media/education/1819_edcom_ypc_teachersguide.pdf.

Cut IDs

25481 25423 25502