I am grateful to Dr Strachan for his generally favourable and fair review of my book: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: English Composer (26 May 2025 | Book reviews). In his review it was good to read relevant and amusing information on, for instance, Parry, that was new to me.
Unfortunately Dr Strachan suggests that my ‘assessments of Coleridge-Taylor’s music are likely to be at second hand’. They’re really not. My assessments were based on nothing more nor less than listening to the music for myself.
I found that in his 2016 book, mentioned by Dr Strachan, Jeffrey Green relied rather too much on contemporary press notices of STC’s music: I did very little of this sort of thing, and I acknowledged, for instance, the Guardian reviewer of a recent performance of STC’s ill-fated opera.
Dr Strachan also mentioned that the Langley Press specialises in ‘books concerned with the lives of Africans who have in various ways distinguished themselves’. This isn’t really the case either, as you can see if you look at the Langley Press website.
Simon Webb