Dear members, to celebrate Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's birthday I have uploaded a recording of a BBC broadcast of last October.
It is a performance of the African Suite by the Chineke! Orchestra.
My googling wasn't successful so I cannot tell you, if SCT orchestrated the work himself. Perhaps some of you know better?
IMSLP has the score of the piano version only.
Enjoy! :)
I am fairly certain that SCT himself arranged the Danse Negre (Movt. 4) for orchestra. It was very popular at one time. Whether he also arranged Movts. 1-3, I do not know.
Oh, this is lush music, beautifully played. Hats off to the orchestrator! What a great way to start my day. Thank you, britishcomposer. Yes, the Danse Negre is included in a 3-cd set issued on Cedille.
THE work I think is very lush but generic in nature although there is merit to the fourth movement,
Lionel Harrison was so kind to write to Chineke! asking about the orchestration.
It happens that only the last movement has been orchestrated by Coleridge-Taylor himself.
I hope it is okay to post Lionel's message:
"I have had a charming reply from Chi-chi Nwanoku herself, telling me that the other movements were orchestrated by Chris Cameron (composer, arranger and producer) especially for the Chineke! Orchestra. Mr Cameron is, like SC-T, an alumnus of the Royal College of Music."
Thanks. Mr Cameron did an excellent job, I must say.