Samuel Coleridge Taylor - Hiawatha's Wedding Feast

Walter Glynne, tenor Royal Choral Society and Orchestra Dr Malcolm Sargent, conductor The "Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha" received its first complete performance by the Royal Choral Society, conducted by Coleridge Taylor himself, in 1900. In 1924 the choir presented the first of a series of fully staged versions of the trilogy, "Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast", "The Death of Minnehaha" and "Hiawatha’s Departure", performed by more than 1,000 ‘braves’ and ‘squaws’ in extended seasons each June until 1939. Audiences travelled in costume from the London suburbs and further afield, fired with an almost fanatical enthusiasm for Coleridge Taylor’s sentimental melodies and the spectacular Albert Hall productions, which included a vast painted backdrop, waterfalls, wigwams, peace-pipes and various other essential ethnic trappings. The Royal Choral Society's staged performance ran for two weeks, starting 9th June. It featured a "cast" of fourteen soloists who alternated performances. They included Walter Glynne. This recording, and its companion "The Death of Minnehaha" appear to have been in the nature of rehearsals. Recorded in 1930. Original transfers by CHARM, Kings College London. Restoration by myself.