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On 19 May 1924, the Royal Albert Hall in London saw the birth of a theatrical phenomenon.

A spectacular staging of the oratorio The Song of Hiawatha was a sellout, as were eight subsequent performances. But tragically the work's composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, was already twelve years dead. The cause of death given was pneumonia - exacerbated, it was said, by stress linked to overwork and money worries.

Coleridge-Taylor had been born in London in 1875 to a British mother and a Sierra Leonean father. To be a successful mixed heritage composer was hardly common in turn-of-the-century Britain, but Coleridge-Taylor's talent won him high plaudits at the Royal College of Music and the support of Edward Elgar.

Hiawatha was composed when Coleridge-Taylor was in his early twenties. Its success led to invitations to the United States, a meeting with President Roosevelt and the admiration of American musicians, who called him "The Black Mahler". But his musical talent wasn't matched by business sense. He signed away the rights of Hiawatha to a publisher and saw little of the profits.

What the Royal Albert Hall audience saw and heard in May 1924 was nothing short of spectacular. The staging featured a backdrop of the American West that stretched across the full width of the stage, a real waterfall, and a snow storm. The number of performers was so enormous that the Royal Albert Hall struggled to cope.

The Song of Hiawatha was such a hit that it was repeated for two weeks every year until the war put a stop to it in 1939. Every performance was a sell-out.

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by 麻豆社 Radio 3鈥檚 Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a 麻豆社 season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This extract is from a recording is by the 麻豆社 Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Rumon Gamba.

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