Biography Albert Ketèlbey

1 biography

1.1 life , education, 1875–95
1.2 career, 1896–1914
1.3 rising reputation , success, 1914–46
1.4 post-war; retirement , death, 1946–59

biography
early life , education, 1875–95

albert william ketèlbey born on 9 august 1875 @ 41 alma street in aston area of birmingham, england. second of 5 children of george henry, jewellery engraver, , wife sarah ann, née aston. grave accent albert s invention: family name spelled without @ time of birth , there had been several variants of name in previous generations. children taught musical instrument , ketèlbey s brother, harold, later violinist of note. albert showed natural talent piano , singing, , subsequently became head chorister @ st silas church in nearby lozells.

at age of eleven ketèlbey joined birmingham , midland institute school of music (now birmingham conservatoire) tutored dr alfred gaul in composition , dr h. w. wareing in harmony. @ age of thirteen ketèlbey composed first serious piece of music, sonata pianoforte , which, tom mccanna, biographer, shows precocious mastery of composition . ketèlbey competed scholarship trinity college of music in london, , received highest marks of entrants; future composer gustav holst came second. ketèlbey entered college in 1889, studying under g. e. bambridge (piano), dr g. saunders (harmony) , frederick corder (composition).

in 1892 ketèlbey again won annual scholarship competition , appointed organist @ st john s church, wimbledon, london. held post next 5 years, during time wrote several anthems , hymns, latter of included every gift , behold! upon mountains , strong! ye people . around time added accent surname, aim of moving stress onto second syllable, rather first. in year appeared in series of concerts in london , provincial cities. in march 1892 @ capital s queen s hall played frédéric chopin s scherzo no. 2 in b-flat minor; reviewer illustrated london news thought brilliant ketèlbey played beautifully . won several prizes @ college before being awarded certificate in 1895. during period, british musician reports, critics found likenesses between ketèlbey s music , of edward german.

towards end of time @ college ketèlbey wrote lighter, mandolin-based, compositions. still aspired serious composer, adapted pseudonym raoul clifford in effort distance himself genre. on leaving college became 1 of examiners in harmony. wrote piano pieces part of role, , used pseudonym anton vodorinski work; subsequently used name more serious works, published french titles.

early career, 1896–1914

in 1896 ketèlbey took post of conductor travelling light opera company; father, wanted son composer of serious music, disapproved of saw lightweight role. after two-year tour ketèlbey appointed musical director of opera comique theatre—at age 22, youngest theatrical conductor in london @ time. moved house in bruton street, in london s mayfair, wrote song blow! blow! thou winter wind , words shakespeare s it. opera comique staged successful revival of musical alice in wonderland between december 1898 , march 1899, , according biographer john sant, possible ketèlbey wrote of music. followed comic opera time april, ketèlbey wrote music , songs. following poor reviews, short run of piece ended in may , opera comique closed because of losses brought production. there, ketèlbey began relationship actress , singer charlotte lottie siegenberg. couple married in 1906 relationship childless.

ketèlbey wrote music in style of gilbert , sullivan works comic opera wonder worker, staged @ grand theatre, fulham in 1900. reviewer london evening standard thought ketèlbey s score attractive though conventional ... no originality shown in conception or treatment, conception appropriate, , treatment effective. same year ketèlbey began undertaking transcription work @ music publisher a. hammond & co, making arrangements of music smaller orchestras. in 1904 began work second music publisher, chappell & co, third in 1907, columbia graphophone company, , fourth in 1910, when worked elkin & co. mccanna considers hack-work may have been tedious, experience invaluable in moulding composer s fluent writing both piano , orchestra . throughout time working companies continued compose , publish own work, comprising organ music, songs, duets, piano pieces , anthems. worked columbia on twenty years , rose position of musical director , adviser, working leading musicians across range of musical styles; columbia released more 600 recordings ketèlbey conducting.

in 1912 composer , cellist auguste van biene offered prize new work complement popular piece broken melody. ketèlbey winner of competition new composition, phantom melody, became first major success. in following year won 2 prizes totalling £200 in competition held evening news: second place song female voices, , first place entry male voices. latter song, heart still clings , described sant typical tragical-love ballad of time, , victorian sentimentality comes through in words . in mid-1910s ketèlbey began write music silent films—a new growth industry in britain 1910 onwards—and had great success in medium until advent of talking films in late 1920s.

rising reputation , success, 1914–46

the cover in monastery garden (1915)

in 1914 ketèlbey wrote orchestral work in monastery garden, published in following year both piano piece , in full orchestral form. first major success, famous piece, , became known on world; 1920 on million copies of sheet music had been sold. there 2 competing stories detailing inspiration behind piece: although ketèlbey later said wrote work old friend, stated composed after visiting monastery. musicologist peter dempsey considers piece ... remains day world-renowned staple of light-music repertoire, while mccanna opines first bar, listeners ... might sooner expect such device in impassioned world of [gustav] mahler symphony in genteel english salon piece . success of phantom melody , in monastery garden led ketèlbey s engagement andré charlot musical director 1916 revue samples! @ vaudeville theatre. appointment led similar positions @ other london theatres, including adelphi, garrick, shaftesbury , drury lane theatres.

because of rise in ketèlbey s popularity, , in sales of sheet music, in 1918 became member of performing rights society. except brief interval in 1926 when resigned on dispute allocation of funds members, remained lifelong member. in 1919 composed romantic work in moonlight, publisher considered work of striking beauty . in following year wrote wedgwood blue—a gavotte—and in persian market; latter became 1 of more popular works. musicologist jonathan bellman, calling in persian market immortal , describes intermezzo scene band or small orchestra; reprehensibly demeaning or delightfully tacky . work not without critics; composer , conductor nicolas slonimsky quotes view of russian journal suite ... had immaculate conception in imperialistic colonial england. composer s intention convince listener s in colonies beautiful women , exotic fruits mature together, beggars , rulers friends, there no imperialists, no restive proletarians. in musical times, pseudonymous reviewer ariel described work naive , inexpensive pseudo-orientalism , led heated correspondence in journal on following months between composer , critic.

sheet music in persian market (1920)

in 1921 ketèlbey moved home in st john s wood, had been living previous 7 years, frognal, area of hampstead, north west london. installed billiards table in basement, became favoured form of relaxation. produced series of orchestral pieces in first half of 1920s, including bells across meadows released in 1921, , suite romantique (1922), music critic tim mcdonald considers impressive . in following year ketèlbey wrote in chinese temple garden, followed in 1924 sanctuary of heart , cockney suite. last of these contained finale   appy ampstead , writers lewis , susan foreman describe ... a kaleidoscope of passing images, mouth organs, cornet playing, ... band, ... shouts of showman ... rattle , steam engine , roundabout .

in 1923 composer frederic austin wrote opera polly, closely based on 1729 work of same name john gay , johann christoph pepusch; recordings of austin s work published columbia s main rival, gramophone company. @ columbia s request ketèlbey produced own version of gay s original. austin considered copied elements of his, , sued copyright infringement. acting court expert witness, composer sir frederick bridge thought case ... is awful bore. ... these 2 men musicians, , have no business fighting on game. not worth trouble. ... rubbish. sick of polly . after 3 weeks case ended judge finding against columbia.

such ketèlbey s popularity 1924 works heard several times day in restaurants , cinemas, , in year lyons tea shops spent £150,000 on playing music in outlets. continued build on success in 1925 in lovers garden , in camp of ancient britons—inspired trip took worlebury camp, near weston-super-mare. undertook annual tours of britain, conducting music municipal orchestras, , worked bbc wireless orchestra. invited conduct several international orchestras, , spent time in belgium, germany, france, switzerland , particularly in netherlands, built strong relationship concertgebouw , kursaal grand symphony orchestras. music popular on continent , obituarist in times later reported 1 viennese critic considered ketèlbey s music behind of johann strauss , franz lehár. continental audiences called him english strauss .

ketèlbey financially successful enough leave columbia records in 1926 spend more time composing, although continued conduct them on occasional basis, particularly between 1928 , 1930 when conducted sixteen of own works company, published ketèlbey conducting concert orchestra. spent time undertaking annual conducting tours , composing, , in 1927 published blue hawaiian waters , suite in fairy realm, while in following year wrote suite, 3 fanciful etchings. works continued sell well, , in october 1929 issue of performing right gazette publisher described him britain s greatest living composer ; when advertisement mentioned in musical times, anonymous writer wrote sympathise mr ketèlbey in being raised pinnacle himself, sure, far claiming. sant writes ketèlbey subsequently became britain s first millionaire composer. in february 1930 began became annual series of concerts @ kingsway hall, conducting new work, clock , dresden figures. in review of 1933 concert, critic s.r. nelson wrote descriptive writer ketèlbey take beating. has happy knack of combining infinitely melodious themes , cleverly diluted likeness of authentic atmosphere.

the introduction of talking films in 1927 jazz singer , subsequent growth of medium had serious impact on composers , music publishers involved in film industry heralded decline in sales of sheet music. although ketèlbey s income source declined, period marked rise in popularity of radio , gramophones , new compositions successful audiences @ home. 1930s on 1,500 broadcasts of work made on bbc radio in year, , more 700 on continental radio stations, including weekly sunday programme of music, sponsored decca records on radio luxembourg. programme wrote theme music, sunday afternoon reverie , melody based on musical notes d e c c a.

ketèlbey wrote intermezzo—a birthday greeting—in 1932, on sixth birthday of princess elizabeth (later queen elizabeth ii). connection royalty continued in 1934, when march state procession played accompany arrival of king george v @ royal command performance; king requested march should played again during interval, , , queen stayed in royal box listen piece. in following year ketèlbey wrote march honour crowned king s silver jubilee; work played royal family @ windsor castle before ketèlbey conducted first public performance @ kingsway hall. work played @ year s trooping colour , @ jubilee thanksgiving service @ st paul s cathedral.

ketèlbey continued conduct on annual tours during second world war, these on smaller scale because of travel restrictions. continued annual concerts @ kingsway hall, , introduced new march, fighting freedom, had written in supportive response winston churchill s shall fight on beaches speech. apart composing , conducting, acted special constable during war.

post-war; retirement , death, 1946–59

the winter of 1946–47 harsh, , in february sub-zero temperatures burst water main outside ketèlbey s hampstead home. house partially flooded, lost of correspondence, manuscripts , papers , , wife both contracted pneumonia. couple taken regent s park nursing home, lottie died 2 days later. sold house , moved temporarily hendon hall hotel, had nervous breakdown. spent remainder of year staying in hotels in southern england; in bournemouth began relationship mabel maud pritchett, hotel manageress, , couple married in october in following year.

in 1949 ketèlbey , new wife moved isle of wight, , purchased rookstone, egypt hill, in cowes, partly retired, although still composed occasionally. tastes in popular music had changed during , after war , music declined in popularity; income in 1940 had been £3,493, dropped £2,906 in 1950—a particularly steep drop when wartime inflation considered. mccanna writes apart commission national brass band competition in 1945, ketèlbey produced nothing memorable after war, , biographer keith anderson considers in postwar period ketèlbey s work ... lacked novelty. of handful of works published ... reworkings of old material, although composer attempted disguise origins . bbc began ignore work. in 1949 festival of light music, none of compositions played, found distressing. in letter director-general of bbc, sir william haley, ketèlbey said exclusion public insult . music still found audience: in 1952 , 1953 honour crowned again played slow march @ trooping colour ceremony.

ketèlbey died in cowes home of heart , renal failure on 26 november 1959. time of death had slipped obscurity. handful of mourners attended funeral, held @ golders green crematorium in london.

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