Eric Coates - London (London Every Day), Suite for orchestra (1933)

Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading violist.

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London (London Every Day), Suite for orchestra (1933)

I. Tarantelle : Covent Garden (0:00)
II. Meditation : Westminster (5:03)
III. March : Knightsbridge (10:03)

The East of England Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Nabarro.

It is no surprise however that Coates was able to turn is hand to music that is evocative of the great capital .His two suites, London and London Again are attempts to portray various sides of the city’s complex and fascinating life. The first suite presented here was originally known as the London Everywhere. It is by far the better known of the two.
This work contains what is probably the best known of Eric Coates' pieces – the Knightsbridge March. It goes without saying that it was used as the signature tune of the BBC Radio Programme – 'In Town Tonight', which was broadcast initially on the National Programme from 1933 and then switched to the Home Service in 1939 where it continued until 1960. It is now legendary that after the first broadcast of this piece of music the BBC was inundated with over 30,000 phone calls asking what the music was!
This is not programme music in the purest sense. However, Coates makes use of a battery of orchestral and musical devices to point up the atmosphere of each chosen location.
The first piece is a tone painting of Covent Garden market – complete with the old English tune Cherry Ripe. The form that the composer used was a Tarantelle, which by its musical nature suggests all the business of the one time great fruit market.
The second movement is a nocturne really. It is almost as if the composer was watching the sunrise on the Houses of Parliament and the Abbey. There are very few people around in this mediation. Coates uses the French horns to ring out the Westminster chimes. This is a beautifully scored piece that shows the composer as a master of the orchestra.
The Suite ends with the famous Knightsbridge March. Legend tells that Coates worked out this piece as he walked the streets of London. Perhaps it is here that he finds the perfect description of West End life. One cannot hear this music without mental images of Harrods, red buses, London taxis and to my mind Christmas lights and glistening pavements after rain.

Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, his parents only reluctantly allowed him to pursue a musical career. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Corder (composition) and Lionel Tertis (viola), and played in string quartets and theatre pit bands, before joining symphony orchestras conducted by Thomas Beecham and Henry Wood. Coates's experience as a player added to the rigorous training he had received at the academy and contributed to his skill as a composer.

While still working as a violist, Coates composed songs and other light musical works. In 1919 he gave up the viola permanently and from then until his death he made his living as a composer and occasional conductor. His prolific output includes the London Suite (1932), of which the well-known "Knightsbridge March" is the concluding section; the waltz "By the Sleepy Lagoon" (1930); and "The Dam Busters March" (1954). His early compositions were influenced by the music of Arthur Sullivan and Edward German, but Coates's style evolved in step with changes in musical taste, and his later works incorporate elements derived from jazz and dance-band music. His output consists almost wholly of orchestral music and songs. With the exception of one unsuccessful short ballet, he never wrote for the theatre, and only occasionally for the cinema.