This month we are listening to the music of composer, conductor and political activist, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. 

Born in Holborn in 1875 to an English mother and a father originally from Sierra Leone. He died in 1912 from pneumonia at the age of 37. 

His family were very musical and he was taught the violin by his father, at which he excelled. He went to study at the Royal College of Music in London and studied there for 15 years. He began composing at this time and learnt alongside Holst (The Planets) and Vaughan Williams (The Lark Ascending).  

He was inspired by his African heritage which inspired his music through his musical ideas and links to African poetry. 

He became so popular, despite prominent racism targeting the black community at the time, that he went  on three separate tours of America as a conductor and composer. In fact, his work across music and politics was so well received that in 1904, he was even invited by President Theodore Roosevelt to visit the White House!