I can remember when, between the wars, the annual production of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha regularly filled the Albert Hall in London. The dynamic and exciting Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast in 1898 was the first of the trilogy followed by The Death of Minnehaha (1899) and Hiawatha’s Departure (1900).

This evening’s concert consisted of the first and third parts of this trilogy. The publishers paid 15 guineas (£15.75) for Hiawatha, made colossal profits, but on Coleridge-Taylor’'s early death in 1912 (aged 37), refused to grant his widow a fair royalty. This resulted in the formation of the Performing Rights Society in 1914.

The Hiawatha of Longfellow’s poem, completed in 1855 and consisting of 5,314 lines, bears no relationship to the historical figure of that name but paints a broad canvas of Indian life around the Great Lakes in the 17th century.

The Tyndale Choir was supported by Elizabeth Warriner, soprano, Stephen Davis, tenor, and Christopher Monk, bass-baritone, together with the Tyndale Sinfonia conducted by its musical director, Ian Harrold.

Part one of the concert was Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. I have used the word ‘exciting’ and the choir sustained that excitement throughout, resting while we enjoyed the ‘accents sweet and tender’ of the gentle Chibiabos brought to us in the voice of Stephen Davis and the charm of the haunting Onaway, Awake Beloved.

Part two was the less well-known Hiawatha’s Departure - a combination of sadness at his departure and the joy of his revelations - arrival of the paleface strangers - ‘Listen to the truth they tell you’. The choir responded well to this different and perhaps more difficult phase until Hiawatha ‘departed in the sunset’. Christopher Monk and the black-robed Chief by Stephen Davis ably personified Hiawatha.

I am sure that everyone attending this concert left with a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment. The musical director Ian Harrold must be congratulated. My only criticism, shared by others, was that the sheer volume of the orchestra tended frequently to overwhelm the choir.

Ron Skinner
November 2004