BBC Philharmonic & John Wilson - Eric Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4 (2024) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

John Wilson’s fourth volume devoted to music by Eric Coates opens with Music Everywhere, a rousing march that was commissioned by Britain’s first independent TV and radio service, Rediffusion, for use as its signature tune. The concert waltz Footlights is a life-affirming evocation of the glamour of the inter-war West End, created just weeks before the start of the Second World War. In wartime, as it turned out, the demand for refreshing, morale-boosting music would be higher than ever. Coates’s ‘Souvenir’ I Sing to You was premièred on 14 March 1940 – the week in which wartime meat rationing was introduced in the UK. Composed for his young son Austin, The Three Bears Phantasy transports the Goldilocks fairytale firmly into the 1920s. From Meadow to Mayfair reflects Coates’s own journey from rural Nottinghamshire to life in London. Under the Stars, composed in 1928, marks the first inclusion by Coates of an alto saxophone in his orchestration. The Four Centuries Suite is one of Coates’s most substantial compositions – not only in length, but also in the size of the orchestra. Its four movements evoke the musical styles of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Dedicated to his wife, Phyllis, the work is also a celebration of the couple’s lifelong love of dancing.

Tracklist:
1. Coates: Music Everywhere (Rediffusion March) (3:15)
2. Coates: Footlights (Concert Valse) (5:40)
3. Coates: I Sing to You (Souvenir) (3:41)
4. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): I. WHO'S BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR?' (0:10)
5. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): II. Goldilocks gets out of bed and dresses (0:22)
6. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): III. Clock strikes five (0:57)
7. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): IV. Goldilocks knocks at the Bears' door (0:56)
8. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): V. Goldilocks falls asleep in the small Bear's Bed (0:49)
9. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): VI. Enter the Three Bears (0:45)
10. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): VII. The Three Bears rush upstairs (0:14)
11. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): VIII. She runs away, followed by the Three Bears (1:12)
12. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): IX. The Three Bears make the best of it and return home, in the best of humour (1:02)
13. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): X. Goldilocks continues on her way home (2:05)
14. Coates: The Three Bears (Phantasy): XI. As for the Three Bears – They put up a notice: 'BEWARE! THREE HUNGRY BEARS LIVE HERE!' (1:05)
15. Coates: From Meadow to Mayfair (Suite for Orchestra): I. In the Country (Rustic Dance) (3:14)
16. Coates: From Meadow to Mayfair (Suite for Orchestra): II. A Song by the Way (Romance) (4:08)
17. Coates: From Meadow to Mayfair (Suite for Orchestra): III. Evening in Town (Waltz) (4:45)
18. Coates: Under the Stars (4:09)
19. Coates: Four Centuries Suite: I. Prelude and Hornpipe (6:15)
20. Coates: Four Centuries Suite: II. Pavane and Tambourin (5:51)
21. Coates: Four Centuries Suite: III. Valse (4:47)
22. Coates: Four Centuries Suite: IV. Rhythm (6:14)


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