ABSTRACT
The years after the end of the First World War were full of struggle and hardship for the Coates given their lack of income, but nonetheless, Coates was beginning to focus more on orchestral music. His final orchestral work to be completed during his years as a professional viola player was somewhat incongruously entitled Summer Days. Summer Days went on to become a very popular suite, considerably improving the Coates precarious finances of the inter-war years. Indeed the Coates second and third Selsey cottages were named Summer Days Cottage after the work. Coates completed the score in May 1920 and it is unknown whether the work was ever performed in Coates lifetime: certainly it was never published. Coates was still keen to proceed with an operetta and must have been impressed with the quality of Heards work, as the two embarked on All Through My Life.
