The Phantom Melody Back to list of works index
This
piece was written in 1912 as a cello solo for August(e) van Biene,
and both he and the composer made separate recordings of it. There were other early recordings with cello,
but when Ketèlbey recorded his monumental sets for
Columbia, he chose to use a violin. He
had also added words to the melody to make a song, which attracted three early
recordings, one of which was almost certainly under his direction. It was not until 1930 that the orchestral
version was recorded, but this is the version most recorded in recent times.
The original cello version is
in the key of D major, a favourite with string players, as the open strings and
harmonics intensify the brightness of the tone.
To enable the melody to be played on the violin’s G string, the music
was transposed up to Eb major, a much duller key. This higher key is used both for the violin
solo version and the orchestral arrangement.
The Phantom Melody -
orchestral
|
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Gramophone Review |
Locations |
|
London
Palladium Orchestra, Crean |
HMV
C 1916 |
CC 18735-III |
12” 78 |
UK |
[Sept
30] |
BL,
PD, (TM CAS) |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
1DCD 7 |
CD |
UK |
VLM Winter 98 |
|||
|
New
Symphony Orchestra of London, Robinson |
Decca
LW 5115 |
10”
LP |
UK |
[July
54] |
July
54 p.73 |
PD,
(TM CAS, TM CD) |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
London LD 9119 |
|
10”
LP |
US |
[1954] |
|
|
|
New
Symphony Orchestra of London, Sharples
(arr.) |
Decca
SKL 4077 |
LP |
UK |
[1959] |
Feb
60 p.434 |
BL,
PD |
|
|
Re-issue |
- London CM. 9041 |
|
LP |
Canada |
[1959] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- London LL 3141 |
|
LP |
US |
[1959] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- London PS 186 |
|
LP |
US |
[1959] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Axis 6326 |
|
LP |
Australia |
[1959] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca LXT 4329 |
|
LP |
Spain |
[1960] |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca SKC 4077 |
|
CAS |
Spain |
[1969] |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca SPA 187 |
|
LP |
UK |
1971 |
July
72 p.253 |
BL,
PD |
|
Re-issue |
- London SPA 4036 |
|
LP |
Canada |
1971 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Decca SPL 3046 |
|
LP |
South
Africa |
1977 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Decca 65 94 156 |
|
LP |
Spain |
1981 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Decca LPD 253 Y |
|
LP |
Belgium |
? |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Westminster WGS 8139 |
|
LP |
Brazil |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 841203 |
|
CAS |
Spain |
1982 |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 452987-2 DWO |
|
CD |
UK |
1997 |
Nov 97 p.48, Oct 12 p.109 |
BL,
PD, TM |
|
Re-issue |
- Decca 466 8562 |
|
CD |
UK |
1999 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Evergreen Melodies C 62 |
|
CD |
UK |
[1999] |
PD, TM |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca/Universal 473720-2 |
|
CD |
UK |
2003 |
June
03 p.50 |
BL,
WC, (TM CD) |
|
Re-issue |
-
Vocalion CDLF 8143 |
|
CD |
UK |
[2011] |
LMS Aut
11 p42 |
PD |
|
Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, Rogers |
Decca
PFS 4170 |
|
LP |
UK |
1969 |
Nov
69 p.833 |
BL,
TM |
|
Re-issue |
- London SPC 21036 |
|
LP |
US |
1969 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Decca
SLZ.8386, |
|
LP |
NZ |
1969 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- London LLN-7164, |
|
LP |
Brazil |
1969 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Orlador 54452 |
|
LP |
Spain |
1975 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca DGS 16 |
|
LP |
US |
1980 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 6594064 |
|
LP |
Spain |
1981 |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
- Decca 444 786-2LPF |
CD |
UK |
1996 |
Aug
96 p.60 |
BL,
PD, TM |
|
|
Re-issue |
- MG Direct Marketing D 115620 |
|
CD |
US |
1996 |
|
|
|
Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Leaper |
Marco Polo 8.223442 |
CD |
UK |
1992 |
Apr 94 p.48 |
BL,
NX, PD, TM |
|
|
Re-issue Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra |
- Naxos 8.555175 |
|
CD |
|
2023 |
|
|
|
Palm
Court Strings, Van Loen |
Shellwood SWCD 5 |
CD |
UK |
1997 |
VLM Autumn 97 |
BL |
|
|
Scarborough
Spa Orchestra, Kenworthy |
Scarborough
Spa O cassette 2 |
CAS |
UK |
?1997 |
VLM Spring 97 |
||
|
Titanic
Ensemble |
PolyGram
539 7672 |
|
CD |
Belgium |
1997 |
|
|
|
St
Petersburg Youth Symphony Orchestra, Gonzales-Hamilton |
private
recording |
|
web |
Russia |
2018 |
|
|
Decca
473720-2 wrongly names the conductor as Stanford Robinson.
|
Conductor |
Notes |
Link |
|
Crean |
With portamento |
http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Soundfiles/Orchestral/Soundfiles-Orchestral.htm#Ketelbey |
|
Gonzales-Hamilton |
Perf. 17 Jan 2018 |
|
|
Leaper |
With glock.
No portamento from strings, but some from 1st Horn |
|
|
Rogers |
With glock |
|
|
Sharples |
New orchestration |
All
the conductors follow Ketèlbey’s speed for the main
melody (crotchet somewhere between 52 and 60, see below). The main differences are in the amount of
expressive rubato.
The
Sharples recording is completely re-orchestrated by an anonymous arranger, in D
major, in a style more appropriate to the 1950s than 1910s. Perhaps he couldn’t find a copy of the
original orchestral parts, as the publisher’s archive set had been lost and
none of the well-known libraries had a set.
It was not until the publication of the British Union Catalogue of
Orchestral Sets, and a little later the establishment of the Light Music
Society Library, that such problems were overcome. I myself spent some 20 years looking for
another set of The Phantom Melody to replace my missing parts. Anyone with difficulty locating Ketelbey’s music is invited to check my catalogue at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/catalogue/
or contact me direct.
The Phantom Melody - cello
or violin solo
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Gramophone Review |
Locations |
|
Cello
with piano |
Jean
Schwiller, Ketèlbey |
Columbia
1898 |
27878 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[May
12] |
BL,
TM |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110870 |
CD |
UK |
2004 |
BL, NX, PD, TM |
|||
|
Cello
with piano |
Pietro Nifosi |
Zonophone A 63 |
Ac 6101f, z 047852 |
12”
78 |
UK |
[May 12] rec.29.2.12 |
|
BL,
TM, (TMmp3) |
|
Cello
with piano |
Auguste
van Biene |
3442 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[?1912] |
ad
Dec 1919 |
BL,
(TM CD) |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Velvet Face 1275 |
3442-1 |
10” 78 |
UK |
not
before 1913 |
|
|
|
Cello
and piano |
Nikolaus
Demeter |
Beka 756 |
35153 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[1913] |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue
(S.C.
Bernstein) |
-
Coliseum 484 |
35153 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[1913] |
|
|
|
Cello
with piano |
Peter
Muscant, Patricia Rossborough |
Aco G 15293 |
C 6024 |
10”
78 |
UK |
[Dec
23] |
|
|
|
Re-issue (Clive Weston) |
-
Beltona 342 |
C 6024 |
10”
78 |
UK |
cat.1926 |
|
||
|
Cello
with piano |
L.
Amorisen |
Ludgate
2902 |
? |
10” 78 |
UK |
[1926?] |
|
|
|
Violin
with piano |
Albert
Sandler, Ketèlbey |
WAX
4642 |
12” 78 |
UK |
[Oct
29] rec.Feb 29 |
Oct
29 p.208 |
BL,
(TM CAS) |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
World Records SH 255 |
LP |
UK |
[1977] |
Nov
77 p.910 |
TM |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
World Record Club R 04952 |
|
LP |
Australia |
[1978] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
EMI GX 412546 |
UK |
VLM Autumn 86 |
BL |
||||
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110174 |
CD |
UK |
2001 |
BL, NX, PD, TM |
|||
|
|
Re-issue |
- Revivendo RVPC 004 |
|
CD |
Brazil |
|
|
|
|
Cello
with harp |
Lowri
Blake, Hugh Webb |
Lowri
|
|
2001,
rec.1999 |
||||
|
Violin
with piano? |
Tamarisque |
Tamarisque |
|
CAS |
Australia |
? |
|
|
|
Soloist |
Notes |
Link |
|
Blake |
Accompaniment tastefully
adjusted for harp |
|
|
Demeter |
|
|
|
Nifosi |
Apologies for crackly
surface noise! |
|
|
Sandler |
Reprise of the melody an
octave higher than written. Ketèlbey adds a few extra piano notes |
|
|
Schwiller |
3 cuts, 12 bars. Bowing
adjusted to allow portamenti |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gorP2loBuNM&list=OLAK5uy_nosgSLwQR0rQ9IdZNBzjiQ_h3J95inavo&index=7 |
|
Van Biene |
With much rubato and
portamenti. Notes sometimes changed |
The sound of the Schwiller recording is remarkably clear for its age. The Naxos transfer may be on the fast side,
as it sounds a semitone higher than modern pitch. However, the average metronome speed of the
main melody is crotchet=56, slower than the prescribed crotchet=60 on the sheet
music.
Van Biene
plays it slightly faster than the metronome; avoid the embedded link to Edison Bell Winner 3355,
which though at crotchet=60 sounds too flat.
The Sandler's main melody has
a metronome speed averages crotchet=52.
The Phantom Melody -
other instrumental versions
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Gramophone Review |
Locations |
|
Trio
(Piano, violin, cello?) |
Invicta
Symphony Trio |
Invicta
141 |
20063 |
10”
78 |
UK |
[?Nov 12] |
|
|
|
Organ |
Herbert
Griffiths (Stoll Picture Theatre) |
Broadcast
383 |
Z 864 |
8”
78 |
UK |
[1929] |
June
29 p.28 |
BL |
|
Organ |
Sydney
Gustard (Trocadero Cinema, Liverpool) |
BR 2291-5 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[Feb
30] rec.Mar 29 |
Mar
30 p.461 |
BL,
WC, (TM CD) |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Gramophone K 5879 |
|
10” 78 |
France |
|
|
WC |
|
Organ |
Leslie James (Compton organ, Lewisham Town Hall) |
Octacros 1136 |
5498 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[1935?] |
|
|
|
Pianola |
|
Themodist 30716 |
|
roll |
UK |
[1935?] |
|
|
|
Organ |
David Hamilton (Conn organ) |
Amberlee AEL 205 |
|
LP |
UK |
1978 |
|
|
|
Carillon |
Trevor Workman |
Bournville Carillon BC000005 |
CD |
UK |
2003 |
TM |
||
|
Piano |
Guy
Rowland |
Dempsey
AWK 1 |
CD |
UK |
2009 |
BL, PD, TM |
||
|
Piano |
Guy
Rowland |
private recording |
DVD |
UK |
rec.
26.11.2009 |
PD, TM |
||
|
Mandolin
orchestra |
Mikansei |
private recording |
|
mp3 |
Japan |
rec.
2014 (Jan rehearsal, Feb concert) |
|
TM |
|
Piano |
Markus Staab |
private recording |
|
web |
Germany |
2014 |
|
|
|
Organ |
Mark Sayer (Midi Hauptwerk
organ) |
private recording |
|
web |
|
2020 |
|
|
Rowland’s CD can be heard at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/anniversary.html
Sayer can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1al30jmMzA
Staab can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-WjUEZvJek
The
recording by Workman uses his own arrangement, and was made at a live
performance on Bournville Carillon, Birmingham, on 9th August 2003.
The Mikansei Mandolin Orchestra of Japan consists of mandolins, mandola,
mandocello, guitar, woodbass, flute and clarinets
The
Themodist roll, which includes a cadenza believed to
be by the composer, is played by Adam Ramet, and can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzn8DUIp_0o
The
metronome marking on the piano music is faster than on the cello version,
crotchet=76. Gustard
follows this. He substitutes a new bar
in the introduction and at the final cadence.
Rowland
plays the main melody at crotchet=78, but takes the middle section (marked “Più mosso”) much faster than this. The final cadential bars are decorated with
added octaves, arpeggios and sixths, and are drawn out for a full 39 seconds
for just 24 crotchets (crotchet=37!).
The Phantom Melody -
song with orchestra (= I loved you more than I knew)
|
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Ernest Pike (t), orchestra |
Zonophone A 63 |
Ai 6053f, z 042033 |
12”
78 |
UK |
[May 12] rec.19.2.12 |
|
BL, (TM CD, TMmp3) |
|
Arthur
Reeves (bt), orchestra, ?Ketèlbey |
Columbia
1934 |
? |
10” 78 |
UK |
[Dec
12] |
||
|
Charles
Compton (t), orchestra |
Edison
Blue Amberol 23080 |
|
cylinder |
UK |
[Apr
13] |
BL,
WC |
|
|
James
Morgan (bt), orchestra |
Phoenix
O 110 |
X 588 |
10”
78 |
UK |
[1913?] |
|
|
Pike sings the song in Bb. Hear him at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/i%20loved%20you%20-%20pike.mp3
Compton sing it in C. Hear his striking performance at www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/I
loved you - Compton.mp3 with thanks to Chris Webber for correcting a
repeating groove.
webpage updated 15 Jan 2023