BBC Radio 4 LW

Tales from the Stave

Documentaries

Music: Classical

Series that tracks down the stories behind the scores of well-known pieces of music

Tales from the Stave: Series 6

Tales from the Stave: Series 6: Episode 2

Music

Episode 2

Series 6

BBC Radio 4 - Tales from the Stave, Series 6, Episode 2

Frances Fyfield and guests pore over Eric Coates' manuscript score of his London Suite.

Henry Wood's decision to dismiss viola playing Eric Coates from his orchestra led to a creative composing career with favourites like his London Suite and By the Sleepy Lagoon.

Frances Fyfield and her guests examine the Eric Coates' manuscript score of The London Suite for this week's Tales From the Stave. With Frances in the Royal College of Music library are the conductor and orchestrator, John Wilson, music presenter, Rob Cowan and handwriting expert, Ruth Rostron. Librarian Peter Horton keeps careful watch over the manuscript.

Eric Coates began his music career by playing the viola professionally. He excelled at the Royal Academy of Music and eked out a living perfoming in various orchestras. His first love though was composition and his desire was to write popular music enjoyed by all. A founding member of the Performing Rights Society which collects revenues on behalf of composers and others, he eventually became one of best loved popular light music composers and earned a very good living from his writing. His gift for melody leaves a legacy of tunes which are instantly recognisable today. Perhaps his best known piece for Radio 4 listeners is 'By the Sleepy Lagoon' which is the theme tune for 'Desert Island Discs'.

Yet he did not always enjoy a positive relationship with the BBC, and later in his career he felt the organisation was discriminating against his music when programming the Proms. He wrote "I think (and many musicians agree with me) that the BBC is absolutely wrong in its attitude towards the best in light music, for it is fostering an insidious from of musical snobbery amonth listeners, teaching them to despise melody."

Join Frances and her guests as they look at the craft of Coates, his skill and excellence and assess The London Suite.

Producer: Sarah Taylor.

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Frances Fyfield tracks down the stories behind the scores of well-known pieces of music

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