Footlights Waltz was composed in the early part of 1939 however, the
original title of the piece was apparently Behind
the Footlights. The first broadcast performance was given by the
BBC Orchestra conducted by the composer on 9 June of the same year. The Times
newspaper mentions this radio concert in its ‘broadcast’ page – alongside a reference
to a commentary on the Richmond Horse Show and a reconstruction of the trial of
the Glasgow Cotton Spinners in 1838. The relay was at 6pm and followed Children’s Hour which featured E. Nesbit’s
The Phoenix and the Carpet.
Earlier in 1939 Eric Coates and
his family had moved from Chiltern Court to Berkeley Court – as Geoffrey Self
puts it, from one side of Baker Street to the other. At that time Coates son
had recently left Stowe School and was studying in Paris. It was also a time when the composer ‘took up
his journalistic pen’ and wrote a letter to the Evening News decrying the prejudice
against so-called light music.
Recent work by the composer had included the ballet The Enchanted Garden, the Seven
Seas March and the three songs to texts by Christopher Hassall, 'You are my
Rose', 'Your Name' and Princess of the Dawn. The romance Last Love was to follow.
Footlights Waltz is the third of
only three concert waltzes that the composer wrote: the other two are Sweet Seventeen and Dancing Night. It is possibly the most successful.
After an opening flourish on a
pedal notes which hints at tunes to be presented in the main waltz the music
opens with a characteristic ‘tempo di valse allegro. However this music is soon
pushed out of the way by a succession of short sections carrying on the
interest of the music. There is a lovely cantabile melody which is typically 'Coatesian'.
After a short Bridge passage the composer represents three of the most
important themes. The work closes with an attractive coda which recalls one of
the less important themes of the work.
This piece was surely a wistful
reflection on Coates time working in the theatre. Rob Barnett on MusicWeb
International has deemed it ‘dreamy, silvery and conveys that floating
effortlessness so typical of the Coates magic’.
Footlights Waltz can be heard on
number of CDs including Marco Polo 8.223521 and Lyrita SRCD213
No comments:
Post a Comment