Tracks of a Trailblazer

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the renowned British Black mixed race composer of the early 20th century, travelled Britain’s railways for over a decade as a musician, composer and judge, often out of financial necessity. He died in 1912 after collapsing near West Croydon station, aged just 37. Tracks of a Trailblazer from The Mixed Museum retraces his journeys through immersive storytelling, interviews, and archival research, exploring race, music and travel in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Visit https://trailblazer.mixedmuseum.org.uk/ to learn more.

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Episodes

A milestone visit: staying in Swansea in 1902 (Ep 3)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor loved Wales, considering the Welsh people “the least prejudiced among white peoples”. In December 1902, he travelled to Morriston in Swansea with his pregnant wife Jessie and their young son Hiawatha to judge the local eisteddfod, or Welsh arts festival, and conduct Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast . In this episode, Chamion and Laura retrace Coleridge-Taylor’s train journey from London Paddington to Swansea in south Wales. They find out how rail companies promoted the coastline ...

Jul 28, 2025•1 hr 7 min

An enormous coup: visiting Newton Abbot in April 1902 (Ep 2)

By 1902, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s The Song of Hiawatha cantata had become an international sensation. So it was a huge coup for the Newton Abbot Choral Society when the globally famous composer said yes to their invitation to conduct the choir in a performance of the first part, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast . As far as we know, this was his only conducting appearance anywhere in Devon or Cornwall. In this episode, Laura and Chamion retrace Coleridge-Taylor’s train journey from London Paddington to ...

Jul 28, 2025•50 min

A prestigious commission: visiting Gloucester in 1898 (Ep 1)

In 1898, at the age of just 23, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor became the youngest composer ever to be commissioned by the Three Choirs Festival. The event’s ambitious new director Herbert Brewer, who approached him partly at the suggestion of Edward Elgar, would not regret it. The resulting Ballade in A Minor had audiences and newspapers buzzing and thrust a recently graduated Coleridge-Taylor to national attention. In this episode, Chamion and Laura retrace the young composer’s rail journey from Lond...

Jul 28, 2025•38 min

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