Black
Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story
by Charles Elford
Grosvenor House Publishing Limited
A ‘must-read’, Black Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story
dramatically brings to life the true story of all but forgotten, English
composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912).
Born to a white mother and black father and raised in the London
suburbs, Coleridge-Taylor’s epic choral trilogy ‘The Song of Hiawatha’
makes this funny, generous and modest young man a worldwide sensation
overnight.
Coleridge-Taylor made three high-profile tours of America (1904, 1906 &
1910) and was hailed a cultural hero by the African American community
to whom slavery was a very recent memory. He had the unprecedented honor
of a private audience with President Roosevelt and was the first person
of African descent ever to conduct a white orchestra in the US.
Black Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story is an evocative and
vital dramatization of the man’s life, colorfully told for our
generation through the recollections of those closest to him - his
discovery; his student days at the Royal College of Music; the
disastrous sale of his biggest hit for just 15 guineas (about $30); his
colleagues, friends and family; his sparkling classical and ‘pop’ music;
his stardom; his poverty; his humor; his Pan-African work; his brush
with a certain ‘unsinkable’ trans-Atlantic liner and his tragically
premature death aged just 37.
The themes of artistic rivalry, ‘selling out’, overwork, international
stardom, perfectionism, financial struggle, love, grief, the quest for
acceptance, prejudice and relentless struggle make this modern rendition
an inspirational and timeless tale for the 21st Century.
Ever cheerful and so loved, he changed the lives of countless thousands.
His varied influences echoed down through the ages and will continue on.
He united a world.
Visit
www.blackmahler.com for more information - reviews, endorsements,
author interview, pictures, historical timeline, links etc).
List Price: $13.50
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
On 7th April 2004 an article by Norman Lebrecht (BBC broadcaster,
award-winning novelist and Assistant Editor to the London Evening Standard)
marking the release of Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto was published. It
likened the success of ‘Hiawatha’ in the late 1890s/early 1900s to the
success of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s musicals today. But on reading the article,
Charles Elford was surprised that he knew nothing of Coleridge-Taylor
despite the name’s vague familiarity. His interest piqued, he started to dig
and hasn’t looked back. Not managing to trace the two ‘definitive’
biographies, the principal sources for Black Mahler: The Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor Story were the biographies by Coleridge-Taylor’s wife and
daughter.
During the course of his research and writing, Mr Elford developed a huge
affection for his gentle, clever, modest and funny protagonist and doesn’t
believe that Coleridge-Taylor deserves to be, or to remain, forgotten. He
felt duty-bound to remain loyal to the truth and sincerely hopes that Black
Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Story will in some small way, renew
interest in this inspirational and influential man who only ever saw himself
as the English musician who lent his race a voice.
Charles Elford trained originally as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy
of Music & Drama. He lives in Whitstable, Kent and works for a charity that
provides supported housing and associated services to vulnerable single
homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. He is currently revising
his screenplay adaptation of Black Mahler: The Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Story. Norman Lebrecht said ‘It’s an incredibly human story which would
translate extremely well to film.’
Although many other wonderful things have been said of this book (you can
read some of them at
www.blackmahler.com) Mr Elford tells us the most
gratifying commendation came from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s own grandson
who, in October 2008, said ‘...It was wonderful reading and towards the end
I just could not put it down. The imagination on Charles Elford’s part was
incredible; because everything was so absolutely accurate in every detail. I
wondered where he got his information from. It was more than just a
pleasure, it was like going back in time.’
