CD REVIEW
– Eric
COATES
Springtime Suite
Four Ways Suite / Saxo-Rhapsody
Slovak
Radio Symphony Orchestra / Andrew
Penny
Naxos 8.555194
[60:57]
'
This is a reissue
of a Marco Polo CD from 1998
featuring the compositions of the
man described as the
"Uncrowned King of Light
Music". It is probably of
more interest than another
similar recent release noticed
here as it contains – along
with By the Sleepy Lagoon
(signature tune to BBC Radio 4's
Desert Island Discs) – works
less familiar to the likes of
your reviewer, if not to Coates
aficionados.
In his booklet
notes Michael Ponder reckons that
Springtime, Coates's
eleventh suite, was one of his
finest, but it never achieved the
popularity of the others. The
Four Ways Suite (North, South,
East, West) takes its ideas
from different parts of the
world: an Italian-sounding waltz,
a Chinese-sounding scherzo, and
an American-sounding syncopation.
The opening
movement, Northward, is
the composer's first ever march,
a form which he comprehensively
made his own. Also, there is The
Eighth Army March, dedicated
in 1942 to the then General
Montgomery and his 'Desert Rats',
and the final item is High
Flight March, which was to
be his last composition before he
died in 1957.
It is good to get
acquainted again with The
Saxo-Rhapsody, a concerto
for saxophone and orchestra, that
I remember quite often hearing on
the wireless back in the day. It
had been commissioned for the
Folkestone Festival in 1936 (a
very good year), and the
saxophonist on this album is
Kenneth Edge. Footlights
Waltz, Lazy Night and Last
Love complete the 14-track
selection, all demonstrating the
Coates gift for melody and
orchestration.
The recording made
in Bratislava, is brightly played
by the Slovakian orchestra under
the baton of Kingston-Upon-Hull
born Andrew Penny MBE.
Incidentally, he has also
recorded a complete cycle of
Malcolm Arnold symphonies for the
same label.
Unfortunately,
Naxos CDs are no longer
budget-priced and I cannot find
this one online for less than £9
plus postage.
© Peter
Burt 2021
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