Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Coleridge-Taylor’s The Song of Hiawatha

Usher Hall Show Dates: 19 Aug 2026-19 Aug 2026

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s choral masterpiece is performed for the first time at the Festival, with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and conductor Rafael Payare.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's monumental cantata trilogy, The Song of Hiawatha (1899), became a sensation in the early 20th century, regularly selling out the Royal Albert Hall. Inspired by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem about an Ojibwe warrior, the now rarely performed piece is one of Coleridge-Taylor's greatest achievements.  

With colourful orchestration and imaginative choral writing, the work explores themes of celebration (Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast), mourning (The Death of Minnehaha) and transcendence (Hiawatha’s Departure). Among the memorable solo numbers are the tenor’s romantic ‘Onaway! Awake, beloved!’ and the baritone’s impassioned ‘Farewell, said he, Minnehaha’. 

Join the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conductor Rafael Payare, a trio of star soloists including Scottish tenor Nicky Spence, and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus for the first Festival performance of this choral masterpiece. We have invited Uchenna Ngwe, a specialist in Black British classical music, to introduce its fascinating history.  

The orchestra’s second concert, Voices of Canada, features Canadian Indigenous voices and contemporary compositions – their two concerts truly in conversation with each other. 

with additional support from The Québec Government Office in London 

Sung in English with surtitles

Location:

Performances