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Sounds For the Sanctuary:

regards The Atonement as an embryonic opera, costumed treasures and sounds for the sanctuary.
in the cantata and oratorio vein of Mendelssohn and
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Dvořák. It is well documented that the reception of
The Atonement was catastrophic upon its premiere: the NOTES
Three Choirs Festival, for which it was commissioned.
This was in part due to the high “consumer” expectation 1 Jeffrey Green, “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: The Early Years”
set by Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. in Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Autumn
However, a later performance at Royal Albert Hall 2001): 135.
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was met with much gratification. Coleridge-Taylor 2 Novello published all of Coleridge-Taylor’s anthems except
contended that his music (referencing his cantata) was for What Thou Hast Given Me, Lord Here I Tender, which was
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misunderstood, at least in part because of his race. published by Maxwell and Co. in 1905 and will not be
Interestingly, John Stainer (who was thirty-five years considered in this article.
Coleridge-Taylor’s senior) composed his passion, The 3 Zanaida Robles offers her DMA dissertation from this
Crucifixion, just under twenty years prior, which received same vantage point—the question of/realization that
similarly themed criticism. Regardless of why it was Coleridge-Taylor’s sacred music is largely unper-
initially unpopular, it is still part of Coleridge-Taylor’s formed—and provides a valuable resource through
output of sacred music, though not composed for her work in performing and analyzing Coleridge-Tay-
liturgical use; this is perhaps the missing nuance that lor corpus on anthems and service music. See Zanaida
critics of the music did not acknowledge. Given that it is Noelle Robles, “The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel
labeled as a cantata and that Self (though he personally Coleridge-Taylor” (DMA diss., University of Southern
considers it a small-scale opera) affirms its place in the California, 2014), 40.
lineage of the cantata and oratorio tradition, this choral 4 Geoffrey Self, The Hiawatha Man: The Life and Work of Samuel
masterwork might also find a liturgical use, given the Coleridge-Taylor (Hants: Scolar Press, 1988), 16.
cantata and oratorio ties to formal liturgy, especially by 5 Green,“The Early Years,” 143; Jeffrey Green, Samuel
the historical connection points to medieval liturgical Coleridge-Taylor, A Musical Life (London: Pickering & Chat-
dramas. to, 2011), 31.
Absolutely, this work requires high levels of musical 6 Green, A Musical Life,18.
proficiency to execute skillfully and may very well be 7 Zanaida Noelle Robles, “The Sacred Choral Works of Sam-
beyond the scope of many church choirs. Nevertheless, uel Coleridge-Taylor.”
it is dynamic in its musical storytelling, as it provides 8 Geoffrey Self, The Hiawatha Man, 140.
a complete Passion narrative starting in the garden 9 “Our History,” 3choirs, January 31, 2025, https://3choirs.
of Gethsemane, even giving musical voice to charac- org/about/our-history.
ters in the story who are often unrepresented. While 10 Self, The Hiawatha Man, 140.
breaking away from some conventions associated with 11 Ibid., 136.
works within this style/tradition, Coleridge-Taylor still 12 Ibid., 135.
employs historical precedents of a baritone-voiced Je-
sus, a turba or chorus representing the narrative Jews,
and also maintains later developments that would have
been common practice of the day—for example, an
active chorus participating in the storytelling. If noth-
ing else, excerpts from this masterwork can uniquely
enliven present-day services of Christian worship.
With this masterwork in conjunction with his anthems,
church choral musicians have at their disposal treasures
for creative liturgical use across denominational lines—

12 CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2025 Volume 65 Number 9