Albert Ketèlbey: In the Mystic Land of Egypt and In a Persian Market

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Ketèlbey, In a Persian Market
André Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra, 2004



In the Mystic land of Egypt, a 1931 composition by the English composer Albert W. Ketèlbey.


Albert W. Ketèlbey was born in Alma Street in the Lozells area of Birmingham, England, the son of George Ketelbey (written with no accent), and Sarah Aston. At the age of eleven he wrote a piano sonata that won praise from Edward Elgar. Ketèlbey attended the Trinity College of Music in London, where he showed his talent for playing various orchestral instruments reflected in the masterfully colourful orchestration, especially of oriental inspiration, that became his trademark. At Trinity he beat Gustav Holst in competition for a musical scholarship. He used the pseudonyms Raoul Clifford and Anton Vodorinski for some of his earlier works (some reference books mistakenly give Vodorinski as his true name and Ketèlbey as the pseudonym). His name is frequently misspelt Ketelby.