Four Novellettes, Op. 52

Composer: COLERIDGE-TAYLOR, Samuel
  • Coleridge-Taylor composed his set of Four Noveletten (for strings, tambourine, and triangle) in 1903.1
  • Coleridge-Tayor used the German plural “Novelletten” (not “Novellettes”) on the work’s published title page, probably because the term “novellette” (as a musical genre) was coined by Robert Schumann in 1838 for his Op. 21 set of piano miniatures.2
    • Incidentally, Coleridge-Taylor’s piece was published by Novello, the British publishing company founded by Vincent Novello – the father of Clara Novello, the namesake of Schumann’s Novelletten.3
  • Coleridge-Taylor also released a version of this set for violin and piano.4
  • Coleridge-Taylor dedicated this set to violinist and composer Ethel Barns. She performed the premiere of the violin and piano version of this work.5

Sources

  1. Stephen Banfield and Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online (2003), accessed July 23, 2021,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002248993.
  2. Peter F. Ostwald, Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1985), 138.
  3. “4 Noveletten for String Orchestra, Op. 52 (Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel),” IMSLP, accessed July 29, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/4_Novelletten_for_String_Orchestra%2C_Op.52_(Coleridge-Taylor%2C_Samuel).
  4. Ibid.
  5. K. Dawn Grapes, “Noveletten, nos. 2, 3, and 4, for string orchestra,” Fort Collins Symphony (2021), accessed July 29, 2021, https://fcsymphony.org/program-notes/coleridge-taylor-novelletten/. 

Cut IDs

21328