Coleridge-Taylor: Composer's family call for further recognition

Avril Coleridge-Taylor died in Seaford, East Sussex, in 1998

The descendants of composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor are calling for wider recognition of her music.

The daughter of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was known as the 'African Mahler', says she was inspired by the East Sussex countryside.

Her family said being a female composer and a woman of colour may have "held her back".

Years after her death in Seaford in 1998, her family discovered boxes of her compositions.

Fiona Dashwood said being a female composer and a woman of colour may have "held her back"

Fiona Dashwood, the widow of Ms Coleridge-Taylor's late grandson, recently discovered her work after inheriting boxes of what she first believed contained Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's archive material.

After the discovery of her music, Ms Dashwood said that while well known in her heyday, being a woman of mixed heritage was likely to have hindered her.

"I don't think she was given the kudos she should've been," Ms Dashwood said. "As a family, we'd like her to be better known."

In 1952, Ms Coleridge-Taylor left South Africa during apartheid after the government learnt of her African heritage, Ms Dashwood said.

She also published compositions written in Sussex under the pseudonym Peter Riley.

'A wonderful composer'

Ms Dashwood added: "She'd had such a terrible time, I think Sussex meant an awful lot to her.

"She was a bit of a nomad, but she stayed in Sussex. One of the poems she quotes says she got solace from the hills, from the South Downs, from the sea."

Ms Coleridge-Taylor's granddaughter, Caroline Preece, says it has been "an absolute joy" to discover her music.

"In the family, I don't think we knew about her too much - and not from the world perspective," she said.

"Everyone is beginning to realise what a wonderful composer she was. I'm hoping her music will be widely performed."

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