London Suite (1933)
Eric Coates (1886-1957)
Covent Garden (Tarentelle); Westminster (Meditation); Knightsbridge (March)
This suite owes its popularity to the third movement ‘Knightsbridge’, which was used by the BBC as the signature tune for a radio chat show, ‘In Town Tonight’. The programme ran from 1933 until 1960, and the music’s jaunty air still appeals to listeners. The first number, Covent Garden, includes an English folk tune, ‘Cherry Ripe’, perhaps as a reminder that it was a fruit and veg market that flourished there. The second is contemplative if not profound. Listen out for the chimes of Big Ben intoned by the horns. The Suite ends with the famous Knightsbridge March. Somehow it still creates a lump in the throat and a yearning for the innocence and energy of Dear Old London and its bustling West End. Do we have personal experience of such things? Probably not, but nostalgia is often at its most potent when uncluttered by evidence.
Eric Coates (1886-1957)
Covent Garden (Tarentelle); Westminster (Meditation); Knightsbridge (March)
This suite owes its popularity to the third movement ‘Knightsbridge’, which was used by the BBC as the signature tune for a radio chat show, ‘In Town Tonight’. The programme ran from 1933 until 1960, and the music’s jaunty air still appeals to listeners. The first number, Covent Garden, includes an English folk tune, ‘Cherry Ripe’, perhaps as a reminder that it was a fruit and veg market that flourished there. The second is contemplative if not profound. Listen out for the chimes of Big Ben intoned by the horns. The Suite ends with the famous Knightsbridge March. Somehow it still creates a lump in the throat and a yearning for the innocence and energy of Dear Old London and its bustling West End. Do we have personal experience of such things? Probably not, but nostalgia is often at its most potent when uncluttered by evidence.