The works of Eric Coates fall into the category the British call light music, which is a step closer to classical concert music than what is connoted by the North American term "easy listening"; "pops" might be the closest North American equivalent. Coates draws on a large variety of sources, from Tchaikovsky to American jazz, such as the very Gershwinesque Allegro molto movement from the ballet The Enchanted Garden on this release. That work, with its Italian movement titles, suggests the differences between this release ...
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The works of Eric Coates fall into the category the British call light music, which is a step closer to classical concert music than what is connoted by the North American term "easy listening"; "pops" might be the closest North American equivalent. Coates draws on a large variety of sources, from Tchaikovsky to American jazz, such as the very Gershwinesque Allegro molto movement from the ballet The Enchanted Garden on this release. That work, with its Italian movement titles, suggests the differences between this release and its Volume 1 predecessor on Chandos. Here, conductor John Wilson and the BBC Philharmonic essay larger works, including the Summer Days Suite and the single-movement The Selfish Giant, based on a story by Oscar Wilde. Thus much of the music here tends closer to the "classical" end of the spectrum in Coates' oeuvre, which is perhaps a trifle less distinctive than the language of his brilliantly orchestrated short works, but both volumes are well worth the listener's time. In the...
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