Hiawatha's Wedding Feast was the first major success enjoyed by Coleridge-Taylor. It was commissioned by the London publisher Novello after Edward Elgar recommended the young Afro-English composer to them following the premiere of his 'Ballade in A minor' at the Three Choirs Festival in Birmingham. The new work was completed fast and the vocal score was in print months before the premiere, with sales so brisk Novello commissioned a subsequent cantata...