Tangled Tunes: selection of 106 favourite melodies, humorously entangled Back to list of works index

Ketelbey’s own recording pre-dates the publication of the sheet music, which was not issued until 1915 for piano, 1918 as orchestral parts and 1919 as military band parts.

A review of the piano version by Ampersand in Musical Opinion Vol.39 (November 1915) page 143 ran thus:

One of the cleverest as well as one of the drollest compilations that we have ever come across is Albert Ketélby's [sic] Tangled Tunes, a pot pourri of upwards of one hundred popular snatches. We use the word "snatches" advisedly, since in the case of such wholesale order it would be impossible to do more than merely acknowledge in a fleeting manner the mighty host of familiar acquaintances. The way in which such remotely related numbers as Grandfather's Clock and the Marseillaise, Stephanie Gavotte and Berlioz' Hungarian March, William Tell and Good King Wenceslas, Zampa and God save the King - the way in which these have been dovetailed and worked together is once musicianly and thrilling. Those who have heard the band of the Scots Guards in Tangled Tunes will not readily forget the experience.”

The reference to the Band of the Scots Guards suggests that the work had already entered their repertoire and was performed regularly in public. No details have been found of an early recording by them.

Works quoted

Bar Title Composer

3 Rule Britannia Arne

9 Three blind mice anon

16 Mistletoe bough Bishop

20 Il trovatore - Ah, che la morte Verdi

22 Faust - Flower song Gounod

30 Three fishers went sailing Hullah

33 Drinking [In tiefem Keller] Fischer

36 Heart of oak Boyce

38 Charlie is my darling anon Scottish

41 The minstrel boy anon Irish

43 Here we go gathering nuts in May anon

47 Dixie's land Emmett

49 Il trovatore - Soldier's chorus Verdi

52 Grandfather's clock anon

56 Marseillaise Rouget de Lisle

60 The British Grenadiers anon

64 Home sweet home Bishop

67 Blue bells of Scotland anon Scottish

71 Lohengrin - Introduction to Act III Wagner

78 Hornpipe [Jack's the lad] anon

82 The girl I left behind me anon (Irish)

86 Gary Owen anon (Irish)

93 Poet and Peasant [overture] Suppé

103 1812 overture Tchaikovsky

110 Tannhäuser march [Entry of Guests] Wagner

113 1812 overture Tchaikovsky

116 Il bacio Arditi

124 Romeo and Juliet - Waltz [Je veux vivre] Gounod

132 Le prophète - March Meyerbeer

136 Faust - Soldiers' chorus Gounod

140 Faust - O tender moon Gounod

143 Silver threads among the gold Danks

147 Killarney Balfe

149 Mary of Argyle Nelson

153 Robin Adair anon

155 [Midsummer night's dream] Wedding march Mendelssohn

157 Il trovatore - Anvil chorus Verdi

162 Yankee doodle anon

166 Dixie's land Emmett

172 Maid of Athens Balfe? Linley?

175 Johnny get your gun Belasco

178 Raymond overture Thomas

183 Light Cavalry overture Suppé

190 The keel row anon (Tyneside)

194 For he's a jolly good fellow anon

197 The harp that once thro' Tara's halls anon (Irish)

201 The village blacksmith Balfe?

207 [Maritana] Scenes that are brightest Wallace

209 [La Reine de Saba] - Lend me your aid Gounod

213 Blue Danube Strauss

218 Poet and peasant overture Suppé

232 Spring song Mendelssohn

235 Little brown jug Eastburn

240 [Rigoletto] La donna è mobile Verdi

254 Excelsior Balfe

274 Lass of Richmond Hill Hook

277 Bay of Biscay Davy

281 Rule Britannia Arne

284 Vicar of Bray anon

286 John Peel anon Cumbrian

291 Last rose of summer anon Irish

294 Villikins and his Dinah anon

301 Buy a broom Bishop?

308 The ash grove anon Welsh

312 Sally in our ally Carey

316 Alice, where art thou Ascher

321 Sweet Genevieve Tucker

324 Semiramide overture Rossini

329 March aux flambeaux Clark

323 Marching through Georgia Work

326 Merry wives of Windsor overture Nicolai

351 Stephanie gavotte Czibulka

354 Faust - Kermesse scene Gounod

358 [Damnation of Faust] Hungarian march Berlioz

361 Faust - Sword chorus Gounod

370 1812 overture Tchaikovsky

376 Bohemian girl overture Balfe

380 Der Freischütz overture Weber

382 Tannhäuser march [Entry of the guests] Wagner

386 Three cheers for the red, white and blue Belasco

388 When Johnny comes marching home anon

396 William Tell overture Rossini

421 Good king Wenceslas anon

427 Tannhäuser - March [Entry of the guests] Wagner

434 Il trovatore - Il balen Verdi

437 Faust - Dio possente Gounod

439 Athalie - March Mendessohn

444 How can I leave thee Abt? Cramer? Edmunds? Martin?

448 Come birdie come anon? White?

456 Tarara-boom-de-ay anon. American

463 Tancredi overture Rossini

467 Oh dear, what can the matter be anon (1790)

471 Rocked in the cradle Knight

474 The bogie man Bassett

478 Pop goes the weasel anon

484 Amoretten waltz Gungl? Gockel?

492 Casse-noisette - Valse des fleurs Tchaikovsky

500 Waltz in Ab Chopin

507 Nocturne Chopin

511 Faust - fragment Gounod

512 Faust - waltz Gounod

520 Flying Dutchman Wagner

522 Auld lang syne anon Scottish

525 [Fine] Old English gentlemen anon

528 Zampa [overture] Hérold

God save the King anon

544 [‘Arf a pint of mild and bitter] anon Cockney

The published music is in two parts. For his recordings, Ketèlbey further divided each part in two, adding a few extra bars to finish the side of the record.

Part	Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Country	Date	Gramophone Review	Locations	Archive
1-2	Orchestra	Casino O, Ketèlbey	Columbia 2423	28910,28946	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[July 14]		BL, (TM CD)
		Re-issue	- Naxos 8.110870		CD	UK	2004		BL, NX, PD, TM
		Re-issue of side 1 (Columbia Symphony Orchestra)	- Columbia A 1688	28910-4	10” 78	US			WC
3-4	Orchestra	Casino O, Ketèlbey	Columbia 2424	28965,28966	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[July 14]		(TM CAS)
		Re-issue	- Naxos 8.110870		CD	UK	2004		BL, NX, PD, TM
		Re-issue of side 3 (Columbia Symphony Orchestra) “Part 2”	- Columbia A 1688	28965-2	10” 78	US
1-2	Military Band	Band of HM Scots Guards	Edison Bell Winner ?3646	?	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[1922?]
3-4	Military Band	Band of HM Scots Guards	Edison Bell Winner 3647	7089, 7090	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[1922?]		(TM mp3)
1-2	Orchestra	Casino O, Ketèlbey	Columbia 2423	28910-5, 28946-3	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	rr.28^th May 24		(TM CAS).
3	Orchestra	Casino O, Ketèlbey	Columbia 2424	28965-3	10” 78	UK	rr.28^th May 24
3	Orchestra	Casino O, Ketèlbey	Columbia 2424	28965-4	10” 78	UK	rr.28^th May 24
4	Orchestra	Casino O, Ketèlbey	Columbia 2424	28966-2	10” 78	UK	rr.28^th May 24
1-2	Orchestra	Casino O, ?Ketèlbey	Columbia 2423R	WA3515-1, WA3516-1	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	rr.30^th June 26
		Re-issue		23265, 23266	10” 78, 2 sides	UK			WC
3-4	Orchestra	Casino O, ?Ketèlbey	Columbia 2424R	WA3617-1, WA3618-1	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	rr.30^th June 26
		Re-issue?		23264, 23263	10” 78, 2 sides	UK			WC
Selection	Orchestra	Popular Regent Orchestra	Popular P 1001		10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[1921?]
		Re-issue (Regent Orchestra)	- Curry’s Yellow Label 52	2813, 2814	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[1922?]
		Re-issue (London Hill Orchestra)	- Ludgate 2901	P 2813, 2814	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[1926?]
Selection	Organ	Roy Wilson (=Reginald Dixon) (Wurlitzer)	Sterno 1076	S 2669, 2670	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[Dec 32]	Dec 32 p.280	BL
		Reissue (Jean Stafford)	- Redwing R 1011	S 2669, 2670	10” 78, 2 sides	UK	[1934?]
Complete	Piano	arranged pianola roll	Aeolian Roll 8140		roll				(TM mp3)
	Piano		Artistyle 92621c		roll				PD	mr11

The details of the electrical re-recording on 2423R and 2424R are not clear. As Ketèlbey was not named as the conductor on the label, then it was probably another conductor. The plate numbers given in the source Andrews: Columbia 10” records 1904-1930 look suspect.

Ketèlbey’s pre-electric recordings also cause confusion. The matrix numbers are not clearly marked, and I have had to distinguish takes by the recorded sound.

The recording speeds of the 1914 version of 2423-4 vary from side to side, and the Naxos transcription fails to sort this out. Side 1 is a semitone sharp, side 2 a tone, side 3 a tone and side 4 a semitone.

Both versions of 2423 cut 2 bars’ drum roll at the beginning and 2 bars from Dixies’ Land. One distinguishing passage is the addition of a violin above the clarinet melody in The Mistletoe Bough in the later version. On the second side, the earlier version adds a cymbal clash during the Soldiers’ Chorus, and the later version has what sounds like an accident to a couple of tubular bells in The Village Blacksmith.

On the 1914 recording of 2424, there is a cut of 8 bars from The Merry Wives of Windsor, and also of the entire 4 bars containing 'Arf a pint of mild and bitter. Side 3 on Columbia A 1688 (labelled “Part 2”) can be heard in a better transfer than the Naxos one at https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000067530/28965-Tangled_tunes

The 1924 recording of 2424 makes the same cut of The Merry Wives, but restores ‘Arf a pint. Hear sides 3 & 4 at https://archive.org/details/78_tangled-tunes_casino-orchestra-albert-w-ketelbey_gbia0341135a and https://archive.org/details/78_tangled-tunes_casino-orchestra-albert-w-ketelbey_gbia0341135b

Listen to the Naxos transfer as follows.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7DFa67dnr0&list=OLAK5uy_nosgSLwQR0rQ9IdZNBzjiQ_h3J95inavo&index=5

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMI50fGBr7U&list=OLAK5uy_nosgSLwQR0rQ9IdZNBzjiQ_h3J95inavo&index=6

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbttSbFSDhU&list=OLAK5uy_nosgSLwQR0rQ9IdZNBzjiQ_h3J95inavo&index=16

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsPd4NZtsL0&list=OLAK5uy_nosgSLwQR0rQ9IdZNBzjiQ_h3J95inavo&index=17

A recording of the Aeolian piano roll is available at http://www.mmdigest.com/Sounds/tangledTunes.html

Tender Memories: song without words/intermezzo, by “Geoffrey Kaye”

A piano solo from 1920.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2019	TM, PD

This can be heard at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Tender memories for piano sync.mp3

There’s Something in the English After All

Patriotic song written for the musical comedy Skipped by the Light of the Moon, which was in production 1898-99, sometimes with the title A Good Time. It is likely this song was added to the show at the outbreak of the Boer War in October 1899. Verse two tells us “There’s something in the Scotsman after all.”

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2020	TM, PD

The realisation gives the sung melody to trombone, with added drums, and extra brass in the chorus. http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/There something in the English for trombone sync.mp3

This is the Day: anthem for Easter

Published in The Bristol Chant, Anthem & Service Book on 20^th April 1898 (10 days too late for this anthem to be used on Easter Day that year). It appears that Ketèlbey’s piece was written expressly for this collection. The sections are: This is the day – The Lord reigneth – Thanks be to God.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2020	TM, PD

The realisation replaces the voices with trombones. Hear it at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/This is the day sync.mp3

Those Bells So Softly Pealing

Words by the composer, published in USA in 1913. Cues for tubular bells in the song score suggest that this was originally accompanied by orchestra, but no parts have been traced.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Song with piano	Peter Dempsey (t), Guy Rowland	Dempsey AWK 1	CD	UK	2009	BL, PD, TM

This CD can be heard at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/anniversary.html

Three Little Trout, by “Raoul Clifford”

Children’s song with a moralising tale, published in September 1895.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2020	TM

Thy Throne (= Within my Heart's True Kingdom)

1901 song, words by Florence Hoare. It was revised in 1950 with the new title Within My Heart’s True Kingdom. Dempsey sings the original version, but with an extra high C at the end.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Song with piano	Peter Dempsey (t), Guy Rowland	Dempsey AWK 1	CD	UK	2009	BL, PD, TM
Song with piano	Peter Dempsey (t), Guy Rowland	private recording	DVD	UK	rec.26.11.2009	PD, TM

The CD can be heard at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/anniversary.html

Till May Brings Back the Flowers

The sheet music was never published; the sales of such an unusual musical form as a vocal duet would have been commercially risky. It is likely that the work could have been written for two singers already paired together, for instance in a stage production. The words are a setting of the poem The Stream of Life, by William Cullen Bryant.

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Country	Date	Review	Locations
Vocal duet with orchestra	Gertrude Woodall (m-s), Anderson Nichol (t), orchestra, ?Ketèlbey	Columbia 2378	28841	10” 78	UK	[May 14]		TM, (TM mp3)

The reprise appears to have been cut by 4 lines to meet the time limit of a 10-inch 78. The words are indistinct, so here is the full poem.

Oh silvery streamlet of the fields,

That flowest full and free,

For thee the rains of spring return,

The summer dews for thee;

And when thy latest blossoms die

In autumn's chilly showers,

The winter fountains gush for thee,

Till May brings back the flowers.

Oh Stream of Life! the violet springs

But once beside thy bed;

But one brief summer, on thy path,

The dews of heaven are shed.

Thy parent fountains shrink away,

And close their crystal veins,

And where thy glittering current flowed

The dust alone remains.

A Tiny Browny Bird = I wish I Were a Tiny Bird

This setting of a poem by Charles Kingsley was published in 1937, but the style suggests that was, like other Kingsley settings, written over 30 years earlier.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2019	TM, PD

A review pointed out that “As the vocal line is doubled by the piano, it can be used as a piano solo”, and this is how it has been realised here – sparing you from the mawkish sentimentality of the words! Hear it at

http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Tiny browny bird for piano sync.mp3

The Trumpet Voice of Motherland is Calling

One of the patriotic songs written at the outbreak of war in 1914 to promote the war effort. The sheet music retained its decorative pre-war artwork portraying a voluptuous maiden for the publisher’s series of “popular song wonders”.

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Country	Format	Date	Review	Locations
Song with orchestra	Harrison Latimer (bt), orchestra, ?Ketèlbey	Regal G 6794	29118	UK	10” 78	[Aug 14]		TM, (TM CD)

Only two of the four verses are recorded. The orchestral symphonies are slightly different, with the opening 13 bars replaced by 6. At one point the words "old Britain" are replaced by "the Empire,"

and there are other minor changes. The sheet music has “d_” which is sung as “damn” by Latimer.

A Twilight Story (=Impromptu no.1)

The pair of Two Impromptus date from 1897, but were not published together until 1907. When Ketèlbey had become famous, several of his early piano pieces were re-issued, often with more attractive titles. Thus Impromptu no.1 became A Twilight Story, and Impromptu no.2 Pensée fantastique.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Gramophone Review	Locations
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223699	CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM
Piano	Markus Staab	private recording	web	Germany	2015

Hear Tuck at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MI-rsy-YHiE&list=RDAMVMMI-rsy-YHiE

Staab can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHBE3FUEO0g

6 Two-part Songs for 1^st and 2^nd Soprano

A disappointing set of songs, aimed at school children.

- 1. Sing, Sing, Birds of the Woodland

- 2. Dreamland = Dreaming

- 3. The Elves’ Dance

- 4. Chime o'Bells

- 5. Restful Night

- 6. Meadow Sweet

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2020	PD, TM

The Elves’ Dance has the most character. Its rhythm was later used in the fairy music in A Dream of Christmas and The Gnomes March (In a Fairy Realm). Listen to the realisation for oboe, cor anglais and piano at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Elves dance for oboes sync.mp3

Under the Starlight

Song from 1899. The melodies were re-used in A Song of Love from the suite In a Lovers’ Garden

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2020	PD, TM

The realisation replaces the voice with cello. http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Under the starlight for cello sync.mp3

Valse Appassionata

A slow waltz for the ballroom rather than the concert hall, dating from 1920. The unusually large orchestra, with 15 wind and 2 percussionists as well as the regular strings, suggests that this might have been written for a special event.

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Country	Date	Review	Locations
Orchestra	London Dance O, Windeatt	Columbia 2983	69806	10” 78	UK	[Dec 20]	SW Dec 20 p.938
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording		mp3	UK	2019		TM, PD

Englund has Ketèlbey as the conductor, but Andrews has Windeatt.

Slow waltzes are danced at around 30 bars to a minute. If played in full, this one would take 10 minutes, with the main melody played no fewer than 7 times. For less tedious listening, the synthesized realisation has been played at a faster tempo, and cuts several repeats. Click here to hear it. http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Valse appassionata for orch sync.mp3

Valse Brillante, op.15 (by “Anton Vodorinski”)

Piano piece from around 1904.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Gramophone Review	Locations
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223700	CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM

Hear this at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=dHxBVGNdWyo&list=PL8el21DD62rDgGY6nwy5ZLb1Wu0FwefFj

Valse Caprice

This was probably the same work as the ungrammatical Caprice-Valsante for flute and piano, played by Albert Fransella, at a recital on 6^th June 1898.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Gramophone Review	Locations
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223699	CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM
	Re-issue	- Naxos 8.574299	CD		2021	Awards 21 p.48	NX, TM
Piano	Markus Staab	private recording	web	Germany	2014

Hear Tuck at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NnOHMVNDCY

Staab can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4TR56UbF1I

Valse Lyrique

Piano piece from 1922, perhaps using material from a stage show, since one section has the words of a French song, set with little awareness of French poetic rhythm:

Quand tu chantes, ma belle

C'est ta voix qui m'appelle.

Je ne sais t'exprimer

Comme je t'aime de tout mon cœur.

C'est l'amour de ma vie,

Tu seras toujours ma mie,

Et je vais mourir, moi,

Si notre amour meurt!

 For a later orchestral arrangement, see Scene de Ballet.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Gramophone Review	Locations
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223700	CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM
	Re-issue	- Naxos 8.574299	CD		2021	Awards 21 p.48	NX, TM

Hear this at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=IlR8dR0yy04&list=RDAMVMIlR8dR0yy04

Valse Tzigane

The copyright of this delightful “Gipsy Waltz” for violin and piano was assigned to Schott in 1906.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2019	TM, PD

Hear this realisation at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Valse%20tzigane,Violin%20and%20Piano%20synth.mp3

6 Vignettes: impressions musicales, op.26 (by “Anton Vodorinski”)

This set of piano pieces was published in 1916. No.1 Nuages qui passent, No.3 Papillon bleu and No.6. La brume: representation d'une ville industrielle, à la nuit were withdrawn from publication around 1928 when the composer re-worked them as Three Fanciful Etchings. Nuages qui passent was merely orchestrated to become A Passing Storm Cloud on a Summer Day, but the other two movements were substantially re-written.

- 1. Nuages qui passent

Composer’s synopsis

Fleecy clouds pass along the sky - a small cloud detaches itself - it disappears - Several detached clouds pass - and disappear - Darker clouds gradually appear - Several threatening clouds appear - they gradually merge into one dark cloud. Thunder clouds appear, the sky grows dark - The thunder clouds begin to pass away - The sky brightens gradually - Clouds of various tints pass across the sky - and gradually disappear - The sky is clear and cloudless.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Piano	Phillip Sear	private recording	web	UK	2015

This performance can be seen at http://youtu.be/fAWof78lvD4

- 2. Sur le Volga (= On the Volga: Russian Boatmen’s Song)

Composer’s synopsis

The river runs dark and murky - a few boats travel along - a few heavier craft are met - the song of the boatmen is heard - other boatmen pass singing in a different key - they gradually disappear and another set of boatmen approach - some of the boatmen play the melody on balalaikas as they pass out of sight - the river gradually becomes deserted.

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Country	Date	Review	Locations
Orchestra	Court SO, ?Ketèlbey	Columbia 670	?	12” 78	UK	[July 17]
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223700		CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2021			TM, PD

Hear Tuck's performance at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EvOEQMkfP-c&list=RDAMVMEvOEQMkfP-c

McCanna’s realisation of the orchestral version is at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/On the Volga.mp3

- 3. Papillon Bleu

This descriptive piece is built on sequences of urelated chords, including whole-tone ones.

Composer’s synopsis.

The butterfly flitters about – The butterfly hovers over a flower – and another – It flies high up and rests – Another butterfly approaches and the two butterflies frolic together – The butterflies circle round each other – The newcomer flies away – [Reprise] The butterfly flitters about... It flys [sic] away.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Synthesized	Tom McCanna	private recording	mp3	UK	2019	TM, PD
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	private recording	web	UK	2021

Tuck can be seen at https://youtu.be/jZQhYxambwk

McCanna’s realisation is at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/synth/Papillon bleu for piano sync.mp3

- 4. Les pèlerins (= The Pilgrims)

Composer’s synopsis

The opening theme (in 5/4) of march-like character depicts the onward tramp of the pilgrims, the second section consists of the Religious Chant gradually reaching an extatic [sic] climax, then dying away as the pilgrims pause for meditation. The last theme is of a more "personal" character and brings the piece to an exultant conclusion

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Review	Locations
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223700	CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM

Hear this at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wcB0CZso1Oo&list=PL8el21DD62rDgGY6nwy5ZLb1Wu0FwefFj

- 5. Le chant des orphelins

Composer’s synopsis

The simple grief of a child - the more profound grief of the mothers - the children's grief takes precedence in the minds of the mothers - the children fall asleep.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Review	Locations
Piano	Rosemary Tuck	Marco Polo 8.223700	CD	UK	1993		BL, NX, PD, TM
Piano	Phillip Sear	private recording	web	UK	2013

Hear Tuck at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vEo0pytmLHI&list=RDAMVMvEo0pytmLHI

Phillip Sear’s performance can be seen at http://youtu.be/P6zGyG3IG_c

- 6. La brume: representation d'une ville industrielle, à la nuit.

Composer’s synopsis

The distant beat of the hammers - a curl of smoky vapour rises and falls - the curls of vapour become more frequent - a ruddy glow from the furnaces plays on the vapours - several clouds of smoke mingle - the smoke-clouds become blacker - the smoke, the beating of the hammers, and throb of industry all become merged in a general mist - the noise begins to die down - various clocks begin to chime, some near some distant - quietude reigns - the picture repeats itself ad infinitum.

Medium	Artists	Label	Format	Country	Date	Locations
Piano	Phillip Sear	private recording	web	UK	2013

This performance can be seen at http://youtu.be/DI8pmnidmsU

The Vision of Fuji-San: prelude to a Japanese play

Orchestral piece from 1931. The German edition was dedicated to Herr A. von Gizycki Arkadjew, a German conductor and critic who had written a favourable review of several of Ketèlbey's pieces.

Composer’s synopsis

The Majesty of the Mountain Fuji-San - The Love-Vision - The Dance of the Japanese actors; The Apotheosis of the Love-Vision.

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Country	Date	Gramophone Review	Locations
Organ	Reginald Foort (Regal Cinema, Marble Arch)	Columbia DX 315	WAX 6237-1	12” 78	UK	[Jan 32] rec.Oct 31	Jan 32 p.341	BL
	Re-issue	- World Records SH 338		LP		1979		BL, WC, TM (TM CAS)
Organ	Gerd Thomas (wurlitzer, Ufa-Palast, Berlin Zoo)	Parlophone R 1188	?	10” 78		[May 32]	May 32 p.530	WC
	Re-issue	- Lindström/Gloria GO 10276	LBi 532-2	10” 78	Germany	?	MMU	WC
Orchestra	Grand Symphony Orchestra	Parlophone R 1876	Ki 4961-2, 4962-2	10” 78, 2 sides		[Aug 34]	Aug 34 p.99	TM
	Re-issue Grand Orchestre, Odéon, Minssart	- Odéon 250055		10” 78, 2 sides				WC
	Re-issue	- Naxos 8.110870		CD	UK	2004		BL, NX, PD, TM

Peter Dempsey names the conductor of R 1876 as Gustave Cloëz, but Bibliothèque National has Paul Minssart. There is a small cut of 14 bars in the opening section, and a spread chord on the vibraphone is added at the end of the Love-vision section, perhaps to finish the side more emphatically. The second side also ends with vibraphone, playing the prescribed chord followed belatedly by a single note which sounds like a mistake.

Hear this recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYLzXnzBWwA&list=OLAK5uy_nosgSLwQR0rQ9IdZNBzjiQ_h3J95inavo&index=16

Foort makes 4 cuts totalling 58 bars, including almost the entire Dance of the Japanese Actors. Hear him at www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/vision%20of%20fuji%20san%20-%20Foort.mp3

webpage updated 31 Jan 2022