Time to give Coleridge-Taylor his due - Calls for recognition of 19th century composer’s achievements during Black History Month (From Croydon Guardian)

Time to give Coleridge-Taylor his due - Calls for recognition of 19th century composer’s achievements during Black History Month

10:32am Wednesday 5th October 2005 in

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October's Black History Month has, once again, reignited debate on whether the achievements of one of Croydon's most famous black sons are properly recognised.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the acclaimed black composer who was brought up in Croydon, was arguably one of the borough's earliest influential black figures yet his musical accomplishments remain relatively unknown.

Coleridge-Taylor rose above his difficulties growing up in a deeply prejudiced Victorian society to become a critically-acclaimed composer. His most famous composition was Hiawatha's Wedding.

There is a youth centre, a road and a school named after him but enthusiasts believe a memorial should be permanent and more prominent particularly during Black History Month.

Daniel Labonne, founder of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Society, says he tried for years to get recognition for the composer as a symbolic Croydon icon.

He said: "I am hoping more has been done to promote the life and the music of Coleridge-Taylor.

"For more than five years, with a small group of friends and musicians, I tried to mobilise interest and convince decision-makers that there was more to SCT Samuel Coleridge-Taylor than music scores and dead history.

"I did that with my own means and only once we obtained a very small grant from the council.

"I stopped the activities because I was not getting enough support, but also because the broader objectives had been met when BBC History commissioned a new documentary on Coleridge-Taylor and SCT's violin concerto was finally being performed by more than one orchestra.

"I did hand over the society to people with similar interest and devotion, but they are based in Liverpool."

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in Holborn in 1875, to an English mother and a west African father, a doctor from Sierra Leone who set up his own practice in England. He moved to Waddon a year later and was brought up single-handedly by his mother.

The turning point in his life came in 1898, at the age of 23, when Sir Edward Elgar, then considered to be England's greatest composer, asked him to compose a piece for the Three Choirs Festival. His punishing work schedule is believed to be attributed to his early death at 37 from pneumonia.

Croydon historian and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor enthusiast May Johnson believes the lack of recognition in the borough is due to the fact many people are still unaware of who he was, despite a vast collection of documents, articles, photographs and books being held at the borough's local studies library and archive service.

She said last year: "I find it quite astonishing really that more isn't made of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, particularly during Black History Month."

Currently, as well as the youth centre, there is a plaque commemorating the composer at 30 Dagnall Park and a road and school named after him.

A small part of the Lifetimes Museum exhibition was devoted to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, but it is hoped more will be seen in future displays.

"There should be a permanent tribute to the composer in Croydon," added Mr Labonne. "He certainly deserves it. The multicultural population of Croydon would draw enormous pride and inspiration from it and, more importantly, Croydon needs a strong symbol and a cultural figure able to give roots and meaning to its development policy. By far, SCT qualifies as the best to project a positive image of Croydon in the future.

"The society operated under the slogan Bringing people together through music' and with the unfortunate recent events in London, never has such a need to celebrate peace across racial and cultural divides been more acutely felt. SCT was also a man of peace."