I make no excuse for
posting this essay by Eric Coates. It is largely self-explanatory, however I
could not resist adding a few glosses at the end.
As
I look at the trend of musical matters today I ask myself: ‘What does the
future hold for our composers of light music?’ Present-day conditions seem to
point to the unpleasant fact that this form of art will die out unless
something is done to give our younger composers of light music the
encouragement which, once upon a time, was theirs. Do we appreciate the
heritage of English light music or are we content to let it die? Are we
grateful for the melodies that have survived the years, for those songs and
tunes that have been handed down to us from our composers of yesterday? What of
the music of Purcell, Dibdin, Arne, and Boyce (to mention only a few); the
carefree ‘It was a lover and his lass’ or ‘Tom Bowling’ with its simple appeal,
and the charming ‘Cherry Ripe.’ [1]
One
could fill a page with the names of the familiar melodies which our writers of
the past have given us, unaffected melodies which breathe the spirit of
England. Melody! Where should we be without it? How much the poorer, for
instance, should we be without the lilting melodies of Arthur Sullivan, that
prolific composer of so many invigorating tunes! And what of Edward German? How
many of us would care to forego the wistful appeal of this most fastidious of
composers, who caught the spirit of the English countryside as none other has
done. [2]
They
were great men, and stood head and shoulders above their contemporaries in
their particular line. Both were masters
of their craft and each spoke to us in their inimitable way, through the medium
of the orchestra- for it is in the orchestration that the composer can make his
personality felt more surely than in any other form of musical expression. [3]
About
this time, of course, there were several very successful composers of light
music in the theatre world who delighted us all with their haunting tunes –
Leslie Stuart, Sydney Jones, Lionel Monckton, Howard Talbot, and Paul Rubens;
even the school-children of today seem to know their songs. Sullivan and German
were, however, in a class by themselves because of their knowledge of the
orchestra; for, with the exception of Sydney Jones and Howard Talbot, most of
the writers for the theatre of those days were obliged to call on the services
of an expert orchestrator to arrange their music for them, as indeed they do in
the theatre today. [4]
Most
people do not realise that the writing of a light work is a serious business and
takes just as much thought and skill to produce as one of the ‘heavier’ type
–the symphony, for instance; and I think the reason the former is not now taken
seriously is that far too many writers are content to jot down a top-line and
sit back while the orchestrator does the rest. We shall never produce a future
school of light music so long as this practice persists, and the only way to
improve matters is by encouraging our younger composers to study the difficult
art of orchestration. Our Academies of Music should wake up to the fact that
something must be done about it. They should enlist the services of up-to-date
professors who are sympathetically disposed towards light music of this type
which entertains and delights the ear without being vulgar. The BBC (which does
so much to encourage our moderns) [5] should work hand-in-hand with our
Academies and stimulate an interest in this practically forgotten art.
Not
long ago I asked one of the Directors of the BBC why certain orchestral works
of the more popular type were not included in our broadcasts of representative
English music and I received the reply that such works were excluded for the
reason that they could be heard any day in our restaurants and theatres and
over the air by smaller combinations. [6] But surely these works should be
played occasionally at any rate, by the sized orchestra which the composer had
in mind when he scored them, otherwise it seems unfair to the composer-the very
absence of such works from programmes casting a slur on this kind of music and
doing a great deal of harm through acting as a deterrent to any young composer
who might feel the urge to express himself in this way.
I
am not suggesting that programme-builders should give us concerts composed entirely of light music, for that
would defeat its own ends – too much of the same thing is always a mistake- but
I would like to see the masterpieces of light music sandwiched between works by
the masters of the classics. It would be
the right gesture to make to all those composers who through their inspiration
have given so much pleasure to the music-loving public, and it would bring
light music into its own. It may be the one of these days someone will come
along to right the wrong being done to the wealth of lovely melodies which this
country possesses. We may then look forward to a revival of interest in our
much neglected light music, and the exponent of this delicate art will once
again receive the recognition he deserves.
Eric Coates Radio
Times c.1942 (reprinted in The
Musical Digest No.6 Summer 1948)
Notes
[1] The music of Henry
Purcell has been rediscovered in the 20th century and has been
widely recorded and written about. To a lesser extent the same can be said
about William Boyce and Thomas Arne. Dibdin remains a largely undiscovered
country. It is fair to say that none of these composers currently capture the
general musical public’s imagination at the present time (2015). The three
melodies that are noted by Coates have survived, largely through Thomas Wood’s Sea Songs (Tom Bowling) and perhaps
Coates own musical portrait of ‘Covent Garden’ (Cherry Ripe). 'It was a lover
and his lass' remains popular.
[2]
Coates notes that Sullivan ‘stood head and shoulders above their contemporaries
in their particular line.’ I guess that he is referring to the sheer melodic
achievement of their operettas rather than his symphonic and orchestral
works.
[3]
Arthur Sullivan has survived as the musical partner of G&S. However, in
recent decades his ‘non-Savoy’ music has been investigated and has been found
to be interesting and worthy of rediscovery, if not revelatory. The same could apply to Edward German.
However Coates would appear to be alluding to to the idealised English world
created in Merrie England. Recent
evaluations of German’s Symphonies and orchestral suites reveal a composer who
is competent, imaginative and deserving our attention, if not at the forefront
of Edwardian musical endeavour.
[4]
It is highly unlikely that school-children in 2015 would even have heard of
Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot let alone know their songs. One does wonder
how prevalent this engagement with these tunes was even in Eric Coates’ time.
These composers of musical theatre are little-recalled today with the possible
exception of The Arcadians (Talbot) and
The Geisha with music by Sydney Jones
which have been recorded and are given occasional revivals.
[5]
Eric Coates would have regarded himself lucky that he did not have to deal with
William Glock at the BBC.
[6]
This is not longer the case; however Classic FM does play a small number of
light classics. Major recording projects such as Guilds’ Golden Age of Light
Music and Marco Polo’s survey of a number of light music composers, including
Eric Coates have allowed listeners in the 21st century approach a
huge range of this genre of music.
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