The Three Elizabeths and Four Centuries Suites of Eric Coates

 

I first heard of Eric Coates on a Quintessence lp reissue conducted by Morton Gould. On this record, a very fine, toe tapping performance was given of Coates' London Every Day Suite. If you know the piece, it is a delight, positively English and totally "empire" upbeat. Depicting London on any given day, it is filled with the sounds and smells of this fascinating city. Some years later, I had the great fortune to play Coates' terrific march "The Dam Busters." This march was written to commemorate the airmen who specialized in wreaking havoc to the German's by destroying dams, bridges, dykes and other devices designed to contain mother nature and the landscape.
The lp here, released in the batch to honor the coronation of Elizabeth II, contains two wonderful suites, The Three Elizabeths and Four Centuries. The former suite features musical depictions of Elizabeth I, Elizabeth of Glamis, the Queen Mother and Elizabeth II. Beatifully written, each piece is a true musical portrait from depicting the strong but uneasiness of the first Elizabeth to the quiet, inner strength of the Queen Mother ending with the exhuberant, promise for a great future that Elizabeth II ushers in. Wonderful!

 

The Four Centuries is a suite of dances with each movement dedicated to a century from the 17th to 20th. Coates displays a sure and firm grasp of the styles and forms and the writing is simply delightful, a treat. If you are not ready to dance by the foxtrot theme of the 20th century, well...you're dead!

In Coates's music you will hear echoes of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Grieg, Glazunov, Paul Whiteman. Hell, it's all there albeit in Eric Coates' own, quite personal style. For these performances, Coates leads the New Symphony Orchestra and I think his leadership is quite surehanded. Below, you will see that this download is available in FLAC on either MediaFire or FileServe. I'm experimenting a bit. Let me know which you think is working more optimally. Thanks!

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