THE DEATH OF MINNEHAHA THE QUADROON GIRL AND OTHER SONGS ANGELA M. BROWN, Soprano ROBERT HONEYSUCKER, Baritone THE LONGFELLOW CHORUS DIRECTED BY CHARLES KAUFMANN (CD)

The star of the program, other than our own Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, best known for setting Longfellow's "Hiawatha" to music for British and American choruses. Coleridge-Taylor's "The Death of Minnehaha" (Opus 30, No. 2), written in 1899, was the centerpiece of [the] program. It made one realize why American audiences called the black composer "the African Mahler." The work is beautifully composed and orchestrated, and deeply emotional, with more than enough variety to propel long stretches of trochaic tetrameter without ever being repetitious. In fact, the only time the music closely mimics the poetic meter is at the conclusion, when the consonance becomes extremely effective. Orchestra, soloists and chorus united to provide what can only be termed a definitive performance of a little-known masterpiece. —Christopher Hyde Review