Samuel Coleridge TaylorBorn in England, of an African father (from Sierra Leone) and a British mother, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a prolific composer who ended up being instrumental in the evolution of the spiritual in concert settings around the world. In contrast to both Dvořák and Delius, whose first real exposure to the spirituals occurred on American soil, Coleridge-Taylor was first introduced to the spirituals through his hearing of the touring Fisk Jubilee Singers in London in the late 1890’s. Subsequently, in 1904, he read W.E.B. DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk, which he later called “the greatest book I ever read.” Proud of his own Black heritage, and scarred by his exposure to racial bigotry in England, Coleridge-Taylor’s emotional connection to DuBois’ writing was instantaneous, and he clearly shared DuBois’ admiration and respect for the work of the Jubilee Singers.

Even before his exposure to DuBois, Coleride-Taylor had struck up a friendship with the great African American poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, when Dunbar had toured London. Dunbar and Coleridge-Taylor presented a series of recitals in which Dunbar read his poetry and Coleridge-Taylor played (on the piano) or sang (as a soloist with a chorus that he conducted) his own musical settings of Dunbar’s poetry. This experience paved the way for Coleridge-Taylor’s subsequent immersion in the spirituals, which he regarded proudly as a significant piece of Black cultural productivity.

Following his first visit to America in 1904, Coleridge-Taylor ended up composing numerous works that provided concretized settings of traditional spirituals, including Twenty-Four Negro Melodies Transcribed for Piano, and Symphonic Variations on an African Air. He frequently performed piano versions of various spirituals in concert settings, and his Violin Concerto was based on the melody of the spiritual "Many Thousand Gone". All of his work was inspired by his life-long efforts to use music in the service of racial harmony.