Eric Coates (1886-1957)
"London Calling"
Music for Wind Band

Pomp and Circumstance march mirrors Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century, then surely an Eric Coates march does the same for the 1930s and 1940s. With their snappy, crisp repeated rhythms, bustling energy and feel-­good factor, Coates's marches were used not only for relaying Britain's successes in World War II, but as signature tunes to long-running radio programmes and later, with the advent of television, signature tunes for the BBC and the new commercial television stations. Coates's music indeed found its way into the musical conscience of the whole nation through that potent new medium, broadcasting. Already in his late thirties when radio broadcasting started, Coates was Britain's finest and most successful light-music composer, his music being played by every possible combination of players throughout the land and his songs sung by opera and music-hall