New Releases (details)

Eric Coates
(England, 1886-1957)

What characterises Eric Coates’s music is his indefatigable melodic invention. Think of his work, and a whole host of glorious melodies come to mind – famous radio and television signature tunes such as the resoundingly patriotic The Dam Busters March, the magical By the Sleepy Lagoon, or the hustle and bustle of In Town Tonight which is reflected in the magnificent strains of the ‘Knightsbridge’ March from his London Suite. It is no wonder that Ethel Smyth referred to him quite simply as ‘the man who writes tunes’, or that he is universally acknowledged as ‘the uncrowned King of Light Music’.

CHAN 9869

The three Phantasies The Cinderella, The Three Bears and The Selfish Giant were all inspired by the stories that Coates’ actress wife used to read aloud to their son. As in the shorter works, there are plenty of good tunes, a continuous riot of orchestral colour and obvious musical references to the story, such as the repeated rhythmic phrase which echoes the name ‘Cinderella’ in one and the melodic phrase in another which could only bring to mind the words ‘Who’s been sitting in my chair?’

Where all those wonderful tunes came from is anybody’s guess, but it is perfectly clear how he came to write so supremely well for the orchestra. As he said himself: ‘Most of the famous composers of orchestral works have had some kind of orchestral experience; by this I mean actually playing in an orchestra’. Coates was a viola player in Sir Thomas Beecham’s first orchestra and was later principal in Henry Wood’s Queen’s Hall Orchestra. Sitting in that position and listening to the sounds around him was the perfect way to sharpen his compositional skills. And as he admitted himself, playing all those rather boring viola parts made him determined to write interesting and colourful music for every instrument in the orchestra.