One of those pieces of music that everyone (in the UK of a certain age) has heard but does not know the name of.
Albert W Ketèlbey (1875-1959) was an English composer whose early music won the praise of Elgar and gained first place over Holst. From ages 16 to 20, he was a church organist as well as a piano soloist. After 1912, Ketèlbey became a music editor for Chappell and music director of the Columbia Gramophone Co. This piece was the first of many short tone poems with exotic titles (In a Persian Market, In the Mystic Land of Egypt, In a Chinese Temple Garden) that he composed with elaborate orchestrations over the next 15 years. His positions helped to get these atmospheric pieces published and recorded. Theatre organists such as Reginald Foort, Reginald Dixon, and Quentin Maclean have performed and recorded them.
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