| Eric Coates |
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Information AboutEric Coates |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ERIC COATES | |
| 1886 births | |
| coates, eric | |
| 1957 deaths | |
| 20th century classical composers | |
| english film score composers | |
| light music composers | |
| people from nottinghamshire | |
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LIFE He was born in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire , the son of a doctor, and studied music at the Royal Academy Of Music in London from 1906 , receiving viola lessons from Lionel Tertis . From 1910 he played in the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Henry Wood , becoming principal violist in 1912 . By the end of the 1910s he was concentrating entirely on composition, having been forced to give up the viola for medical reasons. He had an early success with the overture ''The Merrymakers'' ( 1922 ), but more popular was the ''London Suite'' ( 1933 ). The last movement of this, "Knightsbridge", was used by the BBC to introduce their radio programme In Town Tonight . Amongst his early champions was Sir Edward Elgar . Coates' autobiography, ''Suite in Four Movements'', was published in 1953 . He died in Chichester having suffered a Stroke . His son, Austin Coates (1922-1997), was a writer who lived much of his life in Asia. WORKS Coates' music, with its simple and memorable melodies, proved particularly effective for theme music. As well as "The Knightsbridge March", the BBC also used ''Calling All Workers'' ( 1940 ) as the theme for " Music While You Work " and ''By the Sleepy Lagoon'' ( 1930 ) is still used to introduce the long-running " Desert Island Discs ". He also wrote a number of pieces which were used as television start-up music - the "BBC Television March" ( BBC Television , used daily from 1946 to the end of 1958 and occasionally from then until 1960 ), the "Rediffusion March" aka "Music Everywhere" ( Associated-Rediffusion , 1956 to 1957 ), "Sound and Vision" ( ATV in London from 1955 to 1968 and in the Midlands from 1955 to 1971 , and the "South Wales and the West Television March" ( TWW , 1958 to 1968 ). Coates is also well-known for his contribution to the Film Score for '' The Dam Busters '' ( 1954 ); he composed the famous title March. He was unwilling to write the entire score when asked by the film's producers, but warmed to the idea of writing a signature march around which the rest of the film's score was based - in fact, he submitted a piece that he had recently completed, so the famous March was not itself composed with the film in mind. The final film score was completed by Leighton Lucas. Another well known piece, his ''Three Elizabeths Suite'' has undergone a recent resurgence in popularity. His songs, some with lyrics by Arthur Conan Doyle and Fred E. Weatherly , are less well remembered despite their initial success. Eric Coates was no relation to Albert Coates , the contemporary conductor and composer. EXTERNAL LINKS
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