ALBERT WILLIAM KATELBY

ALBERT WILLIAM KATELBY

Albert Ketelby was the composer who wrote such exotically titled pieces as "In a Persian Market", and "In a Monestery Garden". The composer of Danish origin was born in Aston, England, on August 9, 1875. At the age of 11, he wrote his first piano sonata, which was praised by elder composer Sir Edward Elgar. When he was 13, he won a Queen Victoria scholarship at Trinity College. At the age of only 16, he was employed by St. John Church at Wimbledon as organist. He conducted a musical comedy troupe when he was 20, before being hired by Columbia Gramophone Co. as musical director, and by Chappell's Music Publishing as music editor. Much of Ketelby's music was written under assorted pseudonyms. Ketelby died at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, on November 26, 1959.