The Symphonic Eric Coates

Eric Coates: Orchestral music - BBC PO, Gamba

This is easily the best Eric Coates collection ever. It is a joy to hear his imaginatively coloured orchestration on a full-sized orchestra with an ample string-group splendidly served by these superb performances and Chandos' demonstration-worthy recording. The finest of the three Phantasies is The Three Bears, with its opening rhythmic phrase, 'Who's been sleeping in my bed?' and its later, utterly beguiling waltz theme. Cinderella boasts another richly romantic example, and two more, both deliciously lightweight, close the Joyous Youth Suite and the Miniature Suite, which shows the composer at his most elegant and graceful. More robust is the London Suite, with its vigorous, pacy evocation of the old Covent Garden Market, followed by a romantic portrayal of Westminster, complete with chimes. The Knightsbridge March finale was famous as a signature tune for the BBC. The programme ends, appropriately, with the Dam Busters. All orchestral musicians love playing Coates's music and that is conveyed by the orchestra throughout this wonderfully enjoyable CD. - Original Penguin Guide to Compact Discs review