On 21 November the world premiere recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Solemn Prelude from the Ulster Orchestra and Charles Peebles was released by SOMM, as part of an anthology of the composer’s orchestral works. The 10-minute work was received its modern premiere at the 2021 Three Choirs Festival; it was first performed in Worcester in 1899, conducted by the composer. Listen here.
Since Faber Music’s new edition of the work was made available the piece has been taken up widely. Its exponents have included Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner with the LPO, Daniele Rustioni and the Hallé Orchestra, Ryan Bancroft with the Minnesota and Dallas Symphony orchestras, the Orchestra of Opera North, and Bournemouth and Philharmonia orchestras with David Hill, who conducted the modern premiere of the work.
Following its appearances with Muti, the Chicago Classical Review called Solemn Prelude “an attractive work, cast in Coleridge-Taylor’s engaging vein of rich lyricism, which rises to a brassy climax. Muti gave it unapologetically sumptuous treatment, leading a ripe, operatic performance.” The Chicago Tribune described it as “anthemic and decadent…a worthy addition to any orchestra’s tool kit.”
While Coleridge-Taylor’s own piano reduction of the work was released in 1899, the full score was never published and the orchestral material lost. Investigations by former Three Choirs Festival CEO Alexis Paterson revealed that the original manuscript was housed in the British Library. An in-depth account of the work’s rediscovery and publication is published on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra website.