The Bamboula, Op. 59 #8 by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, arr. Westman

Описание: The Bamboula, Op. 59 #8 by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, arr. Westman

AGAVE
Anna Washburn and Katherine Kyme, violins
Aaron Westman, viola
William Skeen, cello
Kevin Cooper, guitar
Henry Lebedinsky, piano

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in London, the son of an Englishwoman and a Creole man from Sierra Leone. At fifteen, he entered the Royal College of Music, studying first violin and then composition with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. He quickly gained a reputation as a composer and conductor, touring the USA in 1904 and meeting President Theodore Roosevelt. The American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar encouraged him to explore the music of his African and African-American roots, which inspired a number of his works, including his 1905 piano collection Twenty-Four Negro Melodies, which included works based on music from both Africa and the African diaspora, including Spirituals and the remarkable Bamboula, one of the most popular Haitian dance rhythms, itself derived from West African models. While less known in Classical and Baroque musical circles than other globetrotting rhythmic/chordal progressions such as the Chaconne and Folia, which danced their way from Africa and South America via Spain into the most prestigious circles of European society, the Bamboula made its way to Cuba and South America where it evolved into the Habanera (think Bizet's Carmen) and Argentine tango. Coleridge-Taylor died from pneumonia at age 37, his respected reputation never translating into financial solvency. His daughter Avril (1903-1998) was also a successful conductor and composer.
-Henry Lebedinsky

Recorded live at the Whidbey Island Music Festival, June 22, 2025 as part of the program "Distant Shores".

Videography by Scribe Studio, Audio by Aaron Westman