Eric Coates(1886-1957)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
The master of melody, Eric Coates, the composer of familiar music
("Sleepy Lagoon", "Knightsbridge") worldwide, had classical training at
the Royal Academy of Music with Frederick Corder for composition and
Lionel Tertis for the viola, his main instrument. As a freelance
violist he became principal viola by 1913 for the Queen's Hall
orchestra, leaving in 1919 to devote his full attentions to
composition. His music was often used in ballet although he wrote only
one, "The Seven Dwarfs", in 1930. An avid dancer himself, he studied
jazz and wrote syncopated music under the pseudonym 'Jack Arnold". In
the 1920s he and his wife moved to a seaside home near Selsey, Sussex
where he found the quietude he sought to continue his work. His music
was featured regularly over the BBC and sold hundreds of thousands of
records. To this day his music carries a vast and loyal fan
base.
