Coates, E: London Calling

Sailing By – the essential collection of British Light classics!

Decca bring you over two hours of the best and most uplifting classics in the repertoire of Britain’s fine tradition of British light music, including Ronald Binge’s ‘Sailing By’, familiar to all radio listeners as the introduction to the shipping forecast on BBC Radio 4, Eric Coates’s ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’, a version of which is used as the theme tune to BBC Radio 4’s much loved ‘Desert Island Discs’ and many more nostalgic and uplifting classics

These discs present a rich and varied flavour of Britain’s capital city. Offering a diverse and wide-ranging taste of music spanning over three centuries, the pieces on this compilation are evocative of London in all its glory, whether that be light musical cameos of famous locations, to the archetypal Coronation Anthems of Handel and the eponymous symphonies of Haydn and Vaughan Williams. This 2-CD set contains music by some of Britain’s most popular native and adopted composers. The first disc on this compilation offers a nostalgic trip back through British light music, easily recognized for its emphasis on instantly accessible and catchy melodies. Tracks include the popular Yeoman of the Guard overture by Arthur Sullivan, as well as extracts from the London Suites by Dam Busters composer Eric Coates and Dankworth’s Rediffusion London Call Sign. The second disc comprises more traditional pieces, ranging from delicate lute arrangements of Henry VIII’s attributed ditty Greensleeves to Walton’s joyous coronation march Crown Imperial.

This collection of classic marches takes us around the world and across the centuries, from Elizabethan England to Romantic Russia. The pieces range from John Williams’ Superman March to Eric Coates’ Dam Busters March and Strauss’ Radetzky March.