ABSTRACT
Coates changed the focus of his music with a simpler approach to form and less influence from dance music. During this period, one march totally obliterated all Coates previous successes; no mean feat, considering the immense popularity of a number of his compositions. Since 1951, Coates had been engaged in writing his memoirs, published in 1953 as Suite in Four Movements. The BBC was keen to seize an opportunity to broadcast a programme about Coates to coincide with the publication of the autobiography. During late 1952, Coates received an invitation from John Barbirolli to write a new work for the gala concert of the Central African Exhibition to be held in Bulawayo, Rhodesia during the summer of 1953. The conductor Louis Levy, from Associated British Pictures, invited Coates to write the score for a film entitled The Dam Busters directed by Michael Anderson, starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave.
