MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Grand Passions of Albert W. Ketelbey (Including 'In a Persian Market '; 'Bells across the Meadows' & 'Sanctuary of the Heart

'The performances are all one could ask, the recording is excellent, the notes and the packaging are very good.'
American Record Guide

Albert W. Ketèlbey was a brilliant but impoverished classical composer. Born in Birmingham in 1875, he showed an exceptional talent for music from a very young age. A piano sonata was greatly admired by Elgar and he was awarded many scholarships and prizes. His serious music received much critical acclaim.

'Unfortunately, however,' he later explained, 'it was mainly artistic satisfaction that one derives from this kind of work, and as I was in the position of knowing music only as a means of earning a living, I had to turn to something lighter and more likely to catch the public fancy.'

In this he certainly succeeded. He began to compose music which was theatrical, exotic, wildly romantic and at the same time superbly melodic. It was music with an imaginative and cinematic story line. Ketèlbey was a master craftsman, fashioning and polishing every aspect of each piece to perfection, fully orchestrating his work, writing the words when words were needed and even adding a splendidly idiosyncratic synopsis of the plot. He placed the emphasis on 'melody well harmonised and well constructed, which is what they want, instead of what the "Highbrows" think they ought to have.'