Albert William Ketèlbey

In A Persian Market

Albert W Ketèlbey's most popular works appear to have been a series of Orchestral tone poems, like In a Persian Market, that incorporate exoticism and demonstrate the high quality of his Orchestration. The Orchestral version ofthis piece included a Vocal line of male Voices calling for baksheesh which is absent from the Organ arrangement. Composer and arranger Albert W Ketèlbey is now almost unknown except for his work Bells Across the Meadows, but untilthe time of the Second World War, he strode the country's musical stage like a giant of light musical entertainment. In 1929, he was declared 'Britain's greatest composer' according to the number of performances of his works. Over the course of his career, he was a church Organist, musical director at London's Vaudeville Theatre, editor to several music publishing firms and Music Director of the Columbia Gramophone Company.