Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century. The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and suites designed to appeal to a wider context and audience than more sophisticated forms such as the concerto, the symphony and the opera.
The Scarborough Spa Orchestra, the last surviving professional seaside orchestra, giving a concert of light music in August 2009.
The cover of Eric Coates's autobiography, featuring a facsimile of a motif in his Knightsbridge March. Coates is often considered the "King of Light Music"
The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the long wave frequency which had earlier been used – prior to the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 – by the BBC National Programme.
The Light Programme headquarters was at Broadcasting House in London.