Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer and conductor, born in 1875. In New York, white musicians referred to him as the “African Maher”. He is particularly known for his three cantatas on the poem, Song of Hiawatha. He premiered the first section when he was 22. He was born in London to an English mother and a Creolean father from Sierra Leone. He lived in Croydon. He began learning violin, and was very talented. At 15, he began studying at the Royal College of Music, and changed to composition. He was successful, and received help from Elgar. However, unfortunately he died at 37 from pneumonia.

Below is an extract from his cantata, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast: