Romantic Period Listening Journal

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in London in 1875. His father was a Negro physician from West Africa and his mother was an English woman. After his medical practice failed, Coleridge-Taylor’s father returned to Africa, leaving adolescent Samuel and his mother alone. Being brought up by a single parent did not suppress his passion for music, for he studied violin and advanced well enough to give his first public performance at the mere age of eight. He became a student at the Royal College of Music in 1890 and had his first composition, Te Deum, published that same year. Another great influence of his career was A.J. Jaeger, who introduced Coleridge-Taylor’s music to Edward Elgar. Elgar advocated for him and helped him win his first commission from the Three Choirs Festival in 1898.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor loved Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem “The Song of Hiawatha” and decided to make the Hiawatha story into a trilogy. The Hiawatha Overture is the first part of this trilogy. Today, theatrical audiences expect the overture to feature excerpts from the best songs from the musical they are hearing, but with Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha Overture, that is not the case. The overture does not contain the most prominent aria, but rather can be regarded as an individual work. Instead of featuring excerpts, Coleridge-Taylor chose the hymn “Nobody knows the trouble I see, Lord, nobody knows but Jesus” as one of the main themes. Delicate harp arpeggios open the twelve minute piece, followed by the hymn theme played by the strings and eventually the winds. The second subject is equally as beautiful as the first, but doesn’t take over the importance of the hymn. The first subject is in B minor, the second in E-flat Major, followed by the recapitulation and a coda; but there are many modulations, and the resolutions of both main subjects are unique.

The Petite Suite de Concert is one of Coleridge-Taylor’s most popular works. Its four movements are about seventeen minutes in length and the first, “La Caprice de Nanette” has a striking opening which promptly develops into a charismatic waltz. With its powerful end, we are prepared for the gracefulness of the second movement, “Demande et Réponse”. This movement has the strongest melody in the suite, and is similar to many ballads of its day. Critics have compared it to Elgar’s Salute d’Amour, but after listening to both ballads, I feel that Coleridge-Taylor’s is the better of the two. Salute d’Amour has hardly any dynamic contrast and the melody gets a bit tedious after a while. “Demande et Réponse” has that romantic sense that never becomes dull throughout the six minutes of its duration. “Un Sonnet d’Amour”, the suite’s third movement, sounds exceptionally as if it should be used in a ballet. When listening, I imagined ballet dancers dancing to it in my mind. It provides a serene respite before the “Tarantelle Frétillante”, the fourth and last movement of the suite, which is tremendously exciting. This movement, while short (three minutes), explodes quickly into a spirited finale to end the piece with gusto.

The next two works on the disc, Four Characteristic Waltzes op. 22 and Gipsy Suite op. 20 were composed almost back to back in 1897 and 1898. They are typical of Coleridge-Taylor’s non-vocal works, but still extraordinary in melody and harmony. Coleridge-Taylor has a lot of melodies that he sets to dances or waltzes, and they are all incredibly unique.

The Othello Suite op. 79 was commissioned for a production of Shakespeare’s Othello at His Majesty’s Theatre in London. This work contains five movements, but the “Funeral March” has been omitted from this recording. “Dance”, the first of the suite is not really a dance, but sounds more like it should to go as background music to a sword fight. It is a fast and thunderous opening to the piece. “Children’s Intermezzo” is a soft and delicate theme that resembles children playing. “Willow Song”, the third movement, takes the second movement’s light and happy mood and turns it into a sad lament. This movement makes me think of willow trees, and how gloomy they appear, although they are one of the most beautiful. Ending in an aggressive, yet romantic style, the “Military March” must have been a thrilling in the original theatrical setting.

My favorite of all the works on the disc is Romance of the Prairie Lilies op. 39. I love the beginning of the piece, which melds timbres by starting with the flute, then moving the melody to the oboe, only to have the English horn take over a few seconds later. It then goes on to a waltz-like subject in the strings, with accents from the flutes. From there, a romantic theme begins, which is the full orchestra, only to start a new vivacious theme. It mysteriously returns back to the original waltz theme, which breaks into the passionate romance theme occasionally, only to go back to the waltz in a greater dynamic. The entire seven minutes of the piece builds up greater dynamics theme by theme to end the piece passionately.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s works on this disc are just a preview of a large collection of music which I found astonishing. I would love to add him to the Canon; however I do not know which work I would choose, since they are all fantastic to my ears. One reason why I think he should be added to the Canon is because he was so successful in everything that he did, such as becoming a musician at a young age and having his works published without any hassle. Another reason I think he should be added to the Canon is simply because he is a great composer, and in my opinion, comparable to some of the best composers such as Edward Elgar. He was greatly respected for his dignity, patience, and colossal musical input. Unfortunately, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died at the young age of 37 from pneumonia. Had he lived longer, I am sure he could have done far greater things and composed many more beautiful melodies.

Louis Spohr’s Symphony No. 6, op. 116

For my second journal entry, I listened to Louis Spohr’s Symphony No. 6, op. 116. I found this recording appealing because of the idea that each movement is in a different style from all different time periods. The diversity of the movements makes it hard to believe that they were composed by the same person. But Louis Spohr lived for 75 years, so he had quite an assortment of influences under his belt.

In the first movement, “The Age of Bach and Handel, 1720,” there is evidence of Bach’s C Major Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One and also a pastorale section that resembles the Pastorale Symphony from Handel’s Messiah. The instrumentation is strings, oboes, flute, bassoon, and horns, which is close to that of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion (minus the horns). The articulations of the movement particularly in the oboes, flute and bassoon, are long-short-short, which is typical of Bach and Handel, especially Bach. However, the bassoons have their own part in this movement, whereas in St. Matthew’s Passion they double the double bass part. This may be a characteristic leaning more towards Handel’s orchestral works. It is possible that this movement exemplifies the strong moral and ethical basis of Spohr’s attitude to life and art.

In “The Age of Haydn and Mozart, 1780,” the main representations are from Mozart’s 39^th Symphony and the Prague Symphony. This movement adds clarinet into the instrumentation and uses it often, as it carries the main theme for a large chunk of the movement, usually leading the flutes and the oboes. The program notes for this recording state that the period of Mozart and Haydn was the period of the “Liberal” Austrian emperor Joseph II, when Freemasons were permitted to prosper. Spohr, like Mozart, was a Freemason (one who possessed a deep belief to the principles of equality and independence). Mozart was an icon to Louis Spohr, which is revealed in this movement. One may suppose that Spohr has obtained his “ideal state.”

The third movement, “The Age of Beethoven, 1810,” is easily comparable to Beethoven. Sounds are extremely similar to Beethoven’s seventh symphony with the exact same tuning of the timpani in this Scherzo movement. Beethoven’s seventh symphony is the symphony that Spohr admired the most; he had been a part of the first performance of the symphony in Vienna under the direction of Beethoven. However, I think that the inspiration for this movement is not solely Beethoven’s music, but the mere fact that he is a hero because of the hardships he had to endure during his life. Beethoven’s music also provides a backbone for orchestral and chamber music repertoires around the world.

In the final movement, “The Newest of the New, 1840,” proves to be a satire compared to the previous three movements. Louis Spohr had to conduct Daniel Auber’s opera, La Muette de Portici more than fifty times, and this movement has much in common with the opera’s overture. The start of the movement starts with the same diminished seventh chord double forte exactly like the overture to Auber’s opera. This movement is busy, and it seems that Spohr was attempting to create an effect by alternating between Alla breve and 2/4 time, which he does six times in a span of forty measures. It is an interesting end to the symphony, after the seriousness of the first three movements.

While this piece is perceptive of the four periods, I do not believe this piece deserves to be added to the Canon. There is nothing truly significant about this piece, other than the fact that it showcases composers that are already in the Canon. I actually disliked the piece as a whole, just because it is not truly Spohr’s style. It is an imitation of the other composers, which again proves to be insightful, yet is unnecessary. Spohr accomplished a lot in his life; however, I do not think this symphony can be called a “great achievement,” nor should it be added to the Canon.