Avril Coleridge-Taylor

Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1998), was a distinguished composer, conductor and pianist. The daughter of Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), who passed away when she was a child, Avril was encouraged to study music at an early age and would go on to spend three years as a student at the then Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban) before embarking on a career focusing on conducting and composition.

Avril wrote her first composition at the age of 12 and received a scholarship to study at Trinity College of Music in 1915. During her three years of study, she received tuition in a range of areas, with a focus on piano and composition.

Sometimes I used to stand outside the rehearsal room door to listen to the college orchestra, and there were times when I was joined by the clarinettist Charles Draper, a professor at the college and one of father’s old friends.

He would draw my attention to details of interpretation, especially in Mozart, and would carefully explain how certain phrases should be played. Sometimes, the violinist, Louis Pecksai would join us, to listen to the violin section, or Ludwig Lebell to the cellos. What a grand opportunity for a young student to have this firsthand knowledge from such experienced and brilliant musicians.

Extract from her book, The Heritage of Samuel-Coleridge-Taylor

Avril made her conducting debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 1933. She went on to conduct several major symphony orchestras, compose over 90 works, and become a frequent conductor at BBC Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the first woman conductor of the HMS Royal Marines Band. Avril also founded the Coleridge-Taylor Symphony Orchestra, which had a society dedicated to employing musicians during the Great Depression.

Our archive records show that Avril maintained a connection to the conservatoire during her professional career and was involved in the administration of the Coleridge-Taylor Prize, apparently named for her father.

The Jerwood Library contains the manuscript piano scores of three works by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, which appear to form part of a set and two have titles with numbers attached: “All Lovely Things” has been assigned a “I” and “The Garden Pool” a “III”. All three manuscripts have a dedication “To Ronnie”, who we understand was a friend of the donor and the composer.