This very full compilation of Eric Coates’ most popular works is drawn from a seven-album set ‘The Definitive Eric Coates,’ containing all of Eric Coates’...

This very full compilation of Eric Coates’ most popular works is drawn from a seven-album set ‘The Definitive Eric Coates,’ containing all of Eric Coates’ commercially released recordings. In addition to a full discography the liner notes have a 1000 word article on Coates relationship with the Gramophone by Michael Payne. Eric Coates was an excellent conductor of his own music. Not only did he conduct many performances up and down the land during his lifetime and made many broadcasts with the BBC’s orchestras, he also made many fine commercial records. It is difficult to think of another composer of Coates’ generation, especially a light music composer, who left such a sizable legacy of recordings of their own compositions. Recalling Coates in the 1980s, Stanford Robinson spoke of Coates’ qualities as a conductor; these qualities can also sum up his recorded legacy: “He was always neat and immaculate and… did not bully the orchestra; but was always in control.”