Haydn Wood: Snapshots of London (1948)

Eric Coates is well-known for his musical pictures of London. Think only of the ‘Knightsbridge March’ from the ever-popular London Suite. He continued this success with the London Again Suite as well as several standalone pieces such as the ‘Holborn March’, the ‘London Bridge March’ and the ‘London Calling March’. The composer Haydn Wood also exploited the ‘sights and sounds’ of the Capital. Despite being born in Slaithwaite, West Riding and an early move to the Isle of Man, Wood spent most of his working life in London. However, during the war years he ‘evacuated’ to Devon. It was at this time that he penned his three London Suites: London Landmarks (1942), London Cameos (1945) and the present Snapshots of London (1948).

Like many orchestral suites from this era, Snapshots of London has three contrasting movements. The first, ‘Sadler’s Wells (At the Ballet)’ is a highly charged romantic waltz, with an obviously happy memory of many performances at this great institution. Despite the overall optimism of this piece, there is just an occasional touch of wistfulness. Exactly as it should be. The liner notes (CDLX 7357) point out that this movement became famous during the early years of post-war TV. It was one of the tunes used in the well-known ‘Potter’s Wheel’ fill-in. Nowadays, all we get are adverts - either for products or even better future programmes.

Since first discovering them in the early 1970s, I have loved the beautiful Queen Mary’s Gardens in Regents Park. This intimate garden was named after King George V’s wife. They opened to the public in 1932. Two years later, the first rose was planted. It is now London’s largest rose garden with more than 85 varieties and 12,000 individual roses.  I understand that these gardens were only short stroll from Haydn Wood’s flat. The composer has created a deeply-personal and often downright moving score, with a lovely heart-felt tune running throughout. Clearly it reflects many happy hours spent relaxing in this beautiful garden.

The mood changes dramatically with the third movement’s portrayal of the ‘Wellington Barracks’. Quite naturally, this is a wonderful quick march tune that sometimes seems to out-Coates, Coates. It is not hard to imagine soldiers from the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards who form the garrison here today. These barracks are located on Birdcage Walk near to the beautiful St James’ Park.

All in all, this is a lovely suite that will entertain any enthusiast for London. Especially the lovely Queen Mary’s Garden is guaranteed to bring a tear to the most cynical eye.

Up until the release of the recent Dutton Epoch survey of Haydn Wood’s Orchestra Suites (CDLX 7357) the only other recording of Snapshots of London was played by The Queen's Hall Light Orchestra - Volume 2 (Vocalion CDEA 6061).