Eric Coates’s Two Light Syncopated Pieces (1924)

On Saturday, 5 September 1925, Eric Coates's Two Light Syncopated Pieces received their premiere performance at the Queen's Hall, London, as part of a lengthy promenade concert. The programme that evening was diverse, and included Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, and Ottorino Respighi's Fountains of Rome. The concert opened with Engelbert Humperdinck's overture to Hansel and Gretel and concluded with the Valse from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. The New Queen's Hall Orchestra was primarily conducted by Henry Wood, with Jelly d'Arányi as the violin soloist in the Mozart, however, Coates conducted his own work. Michael Payne (2012, p.71) states that Coates's inclusion in the Proms was notable, as light music and ballads were "gradually phased out" at the time.

The birth of Coates's son, Austin, in April 1922, marked a period of decreased musical output for the composer, as noted by Ian Lace (1986, p.39). Aside from a few songs, no major works followed The Merrymakers Miniature Overture (1923). Coates eventually returned to composition, completing his Two Light Syncopated Pieces – Moon Magic and Rose of Samarkand - for the 1925 Proms.

One of the songs he composed during this period was ‘Rose of Samarkand,’ which set a text by Roydon Barrie. Interestingly, "Roydon Barrie" was the pen name of Rodney Bennett (1890–1948), a British lyricist, playwright, and children's author, and the father of composer Richard Rodney Bennett. It was transcribed for orchestra. The song was dedicated to Debroy Somers, bandleader of the Savoy Orpheans. Coates realized that as the Orpheans' music grew in popularity, he could achieve similar effects - known as "symphonic syncopation” -by using a standard symphony orchestra (Payne, op. cit.).

Eric Coates's Two Light Syncopated Pieces were conceived as foxtrots, a sophisticated ballroom dance characterized by walking steps and jazz rhythms. Moon Magic evokes a romantic, dreamlike quality. Its syncopated rhythms and lush string textures suggest moonlight glinting over a still landscape. Sharp leaps, chromatic triplets, and muted brass offer a stylized nod to the well-crafted dance band tunes of the era (Payne, 2012, p. 72). Strings and woodwinds bathe the work in a gentle radiance, evoking the elegance of a moonlit ballroom. Rose of Samarkand shifts into a more exotic register, reflecting the era’s fascination with the East. Its title evokes Central Asian allure, which Coates complements with sultry rhythms, orientalist colours, and percussive intensity. Structured around a persistent drumbeat - first tenor drum, then side drum - it mirrors the rhythmic grounding typical of dance bands. The orchestration divides the ensemble into clearly defined sonic "teams" of brass, reeds, and rhythm, akin to a jazz orchestra (Payne, op. cit.).

Harmonically, both pieces are steeped in the then current language of dance band jazz, using major sevenths, elevenths, and minimal modulation.

These two short pieces reveal Coates’s knack for blending catchy tunes with a sound "classical" musical technique. Rooted in the interwar love of jazz rhythms and syncopation, they carry his trademark melodic polish. Lasting just six minutes in total, they offer a charming window into his playful, light-hearted orchestral style.

You can listen to Eric Coates’s Two Light Syncopated Pieces on YouTube, here and here.  The BBC Concert Orchestra is conducted by John Wilson, and the recording was released on the ASV Record label, CD WHL2107 (1997).

Bibliography
Lace, Ian, In Town Tonight: A Centenary Study of Eric Coates, Thames Publishing, 1986.
Payne, Michael, The Life and Music of Eric Coates, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2012.