The London Suite, also known as London Everyday, is a suite of orchestral music by the English composer Eric Coates.
The Suite was completed in 1933 when Coates was 47.
It consists of three movements:
I. Covent Garden (Tarentelle) II. Westminster (Meditation) III. Knightsbridge (March)The work was extremely popular when it was first published, no doubt helped by part of the third movement, Knightsbridge, being used as the theme tune for a BBC Radio chat show programme called In Town Tonight which was broadcast initially on the National Programme from 1933 and then switched to the Home Service in 1939 where it continued until 1960. The BBC received such a large number of requests for the name of the piece by post so that they had slips of paper printed specifically to help with the demand.
Gerrard Williams arranged the military band edition of the suite for Chappell's Army Journal. Paul V. Yoder also arranged the march for Chappell & Co.
Such was its popularity that in 1936 Coates wrote a sequel to it called the London Again Suite.
Orchestration
The London Suite is scored for:
Violin I & II Viola Cello Bass Flute I & II Clarinet I & II Oboe I & II Horns I – IV Trumpets I & II Trombones I & II Timpani Percussion: Triangle, Side Drum, Bass Drum, Cymbals (clashed), Cymbal (suspended), Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells and Gong.