Samuel Coleridge Taylor's Hiawatha's Wedding Feast

Abstract

Hiawatha's Wedding Feast is widely recognized as the seminal work of the English composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Among his compositional output, this choral cantata launched his career as a musician and composer of international acclaim. Composed over a period of about fifteen months whilst still a student at the Royal College of Music, and premiered in 1898 in London, the performance received an unprecedented ovation, catapulting Coleridge-Taylor into the limelight virtually overnight. This document will reveal provide historical, theoretical, harmonic, and textual analyses of Hiawatha's Wedding Feast. Additionally, a step-by-step guide for conductors towards preparing and performing the cantata will be provided using the 'Seven-Step Performance Pyramid,' a methodology developed by Dr. Richard Zielinski, Director of Choral Activities at the University of Oklahoma. The documentation of the application of the Seven-Step Performance Pyramid toward the preparation of this work will underline the importance of adopting a philosophy that will guide all aspects of the performance through a systematic, efficient, approach; and assuring a high level of success through the implementation of its methodological steps.