Despite a series of groundbreaking firsts, Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1998) has remained an obscure figure until now. Born the daughter of (at the time) renowned composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, she won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music, became the first female conductor of the Royal Marines, the first woman to conduct at the bandstand in Hyde Park, and was a frequent guest conductor of both the BBC and London Symphony Orchestras. She was also a gifted pianist. 

As a composer, her music included large-scale orchestral works, chamber music and songs, some of them published under the pseudonym Peter Riley. In 1952, she undertook an ill-advised tour of South Africa where she declared her support for the policies of apartheid. Ironically, it all ended in tears when authorities learned of her Black heritage, leading to cancelled work and financial hardship in later life. 

This welcome and generously programmed disc is a chance to assess a composer whose music was often impacted by her bearing her father’s name as well as the difficulties facing a woman – and a woman of colour at that – in the mid-20th century.

The centrepiece, and the opener here, is her piano concerto, a three-movement work from 1936 that was popular enough to be broadcast in Australia. Each movement bears a dedication to somebody important in her life: the first, to her friends, the second, to her father and the third to Elgar, an inspirational figure and early champion of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. 

The opening is grand. A descending brass theme is taken up by the piano before the music settles into a romantic vein with an almost pastoral warmth. Although brief, the Adagio is the work’s emotional heart, a wistful memorial to the father she lost at the age of nine. The finale taps into an Elgarian seam of pomp and circumstance. Samantha Ege is an ardent advocate, never shying away from the music’s muscular demands, nor its tendency to wear its heart on its sleeve. She’s aided by John Andrews’ incisive conducting and fine playing by the BBC Philharmonic. This is very likeable music indeed and a work that grows on you the more times you hear it. Programmers should take a look.

The rest of the disc includes several other highly attractive works. The Comet Prelude depicts what was the first ever commercial flight from Britain to South Africa. It’s full of colour with vital roles for harp and celesta and a concertante part for piano (the authoritative Ege once again). Sussex Landscape is the only familiar work here, having been recorded a few years back by Chineke! Orchestra. It’s a warm evocation of a countryside Coleridge-Taylor knew well, somewhat in the style of Butterworth or even her father.

The bucolic theme continues with From the Hills, a lively tone poem from 1935. A melting oboe theme opens proceedings (Vaughan Williams springs to mind), swelling to a passionate central section. It concludes with church bells ringing out over music that again seems to pay homage to her father. It’s beautifully paced by Andrews who has a sure-footed way with music that in lesser hands might falter or lose momentum. To April, another tone poem with a suggestion of African American spirituals is similarly appealing.

The charming Valse Caprice looks back to the Edwardian salons of her childhood. This is Coleridge-Taylor with her Eric Coates hat on and reflects her enthusiasm as a conductor for the light music of the day. Written in 1945, In Memoriam – To the R.A.F., is a deeply felt elegy to the fallen. The lyrical 1967 In Memoriam commemorates both her father and her brother Hiawatha.

All this music is of interest, though it can’t be denied that the composer occasionally drops the ball and lets things briefly meander. Scrupulously engineered with nicely written notes, lovers of English music will enjoy this album, a testament to a complicated life but one well worth exploring.

Composer: Avril Coleridge-Taylor
Works: Piano Concerto & Orchestral Works
Performers: Samantha Ege p, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/John Andrews
Label: Resonus Classics RES10374