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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in Holborn, London on August 15, 1875 and died from pneumonia at the age of 37 in Croy- don, England on September 1, 1912. At an early age his grandfather began teaching him how to play the violin. His musical ability was obvious and at the age of 15, his extended family arranged for Taylor to study at the Royal College of Music. While at RCM he changed from violin to composition, working under professor Charles Villiers Stanford. His classmates included Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. He was later helped by Edward Elgar in 1898, who described Coleridge-Taylor as “far and away the cleverest fellow going amongst the young men.” By 1896, Coleridge-Taylor was earning a reputation as a composer and was also accepted as an excellent conductor. In 1898 at the age of 23 he composed the African Suite. Danse Nègre is the last of the four movements that make up the African Suite, Op. 35 (proceeded by Introduction, A Negro Love Song, and Valse). Coleridge-Taylor saw it as his mission in life to help establish the dignity of the black man. He was greatly influenced by black American poet P. L. Dunbar. He made three successful visits to the United States to great acclaim. In 1904, on his first USA tour he was received by President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House. Above all, though, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was known as a man of great dignity and patience.
