Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Toussaint L'Ouverture
Ballade pour violon et orchestre en ré mineur, op. 4
Extraits de "24 Negro Melodies"

Suite "24 Negro Melodies"

Curtis Stewart, violon
National Philharmonic
Michael Repper, direction

Grammy Award winning conductor Michael Repper leads the Washington D.C. based National Philharmonic in a celebration of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – an album of world-premiere recordings commemorating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Joining the party is Grammy nominated violinist Curtis Stewart who contributes his own arrangements of S C-T’s works. AVIE Records was at the forefront of resurrecting the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, with the world-premiere recording of his Violin Concerto released in 2004. This album features new performance editions of Toussaint L’Ouverture, Ballade Op. 4, and the Suite from ‘24 Negro Melodies. ‘I was drawn to an approach of dealing with the history of slavery within one’s family, the ownership of a name and its ‘rebranding’ – reflecting on the American Slave and how Black Americans deal with creating a sense of pride, familial storytelling and lineage in contemporary America. This notion of ‘rebranding’ extends to the ‘Negro Melody’… My intent with these arrangements is to acknowledge the impact of those melodies on current popular culture, and reflect that influence onto the orchestral stage – to create moments where listeners may participate vocally, with movement, or rhythmically clapping along – to maintain a sense of belonging and recognition – to create community around this music in the classical concert hall – to embrace where all contemporary American Concert music extends from, in my belief – America’s mother-music: the Blues.’ (Curtis Stewart)