Article of the day for August 9, 2016
The Article of the day for August 9, 2016 is Albert Ketèlbey.
Albert Ketèlbey (9 August 1875 – 26 November 1959) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist, best known for his light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham, moving to London in 1889 to study at Trinity College of Music where he became musical director of the Vaudeville Theatre. For many years Ketèlbey worked for music publishers including Chappell & Co and the Columbia Graphophone Company, providing arrangements for smaller orchestras. He composed accompanying music for silent films; In a Monastery Garden (1915) sold over a million copies and brought widespread notice. Later soundtracks for exotic scenes such as In a Persian Market (1920, cover pictured), In a Chinese Temple Garden (1923), and In the Mystic Land of Egypt (1931), became best-sellers; by the late 1920s Ketèlbey was Britain's first millionaire composer. His popularity waned during the Second World War. In 1949 he retired to the Isle of Wight, where he died in obscurity. In a 2003 poll by the BBC's Your Hundred Best Tunes, Bells across the Meadows was voted the thirty-sixth most popular tune of all time.
Albert Ketèlbey (9 August 1875 – 26 November 1959) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist, best known for his light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham, moving to London in 1889 to study at Trinity College of Music where he became musical director of the Vaudeville Theatre. For many years Ketèlbey worked for music publishers including Chappell & Co and the Columbia Graphophone Company, providing arrangements for smaller orchestras. He composed accompanying music for silent films; In a Monastery Garden (1915) sold over a million copies and brought widespread notice. Later soundtracks for exotic scenes such as In a Persian Market (1920, cover pictured), In a Chinese Temple Garden (1923), and In the Mystic Land of Egypt (1931), became best-sellers; by the late 1920s Ketèlbey was Britain's first millionaire composer. His popularity waned during the Second World War. In 1949 he retired to the Isle of Wight, where he died in obscurity. In a 2003 poll by the BBC's Your Hundred Best Tunes, Bells across the Meadows was voted the thirty-sixth most popular tune of all time.
