Coates, E: Knightsbridge March from London Suite

Britain’s Finest Hour – and six years of cataclysm, stoicism and heroism – are recalled by this richly varied collection of music associated with the Second World War.

From Forces’ Sweetheart Vera Lynn to the National Gallery’s pianist, Dame Myra Hess, and from the cinematic sweep of William Walton and Richard Addinsell to the dapper sophistication of Eric Coates and restrained sentiment of Noël Coward, this treasury of hits from the blitz salutes an era never to be forgotten.

This musical portrait of Britain at war takes off with the Spitfire and lands with the Lancasters of 617 Squadron – the Dam Busters. In between are many of the best-loved melodies that helped unite all ranks and classes in the conflict.

The collection’s still centre is the serene slow movement of Vaughan Williams’s Fifth Symphony, a work whose 1943 première was sensed as a harbinger of piece.

Either side are marches, popular film scores, light-music hits and – impossible without – Dame Vera Lynn.

The favourite marches include Colonel Bogey, the RAF March Past and (as well as the Dam Busters) Coates’s Knightsbridge.

The film scores lead with Walton’s First of the Few and take in his celebrated music for Olivier’s Henry V as well as the romantic mini-concertos for Dangerous Moonlight (‘Warsaw Concerto’) and Love Story.

Among the vintage recordings, Sir Noël Coward stirs our ‘London Pride’, the crooner Al Bowlly (killed in the Blitz) bids ‘Goodnight, Sweetheart’, and – just before the final flypast and busting of dams – Dame Myra Hess reminds us of the legendary National Gallery concerts with her own arrangement of ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’.

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.

From Greensleeves to Jerusalem this selection of music in celebration of England’s green and pleasant land will evoke fond memories of summer holidays, end-of-term assemblies and listening to the wireless alongside a nostalgic pride in our country and its unique heritage.

Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London on 7 & 8 March 2012.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra takes part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June as part of the 1000 boat flotilla celebrating the Queen’s 60th anniversary. Its musicians will play works chosen for their association with British history and London landmarks, recorded here to capture the spirit of the occasion and to serve as a memento of a unique day.

Highlights of the music include Percy Grainger’s Country Gardens, Jupiter from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Thomas Arne’s Rule, Britannia!, the James Bond Theme, The Dam Busters by Eric Coates and two works by Elgar – Nimrod from Enigma Variations and Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1. The CD closes out with a performance of the National Anthem.