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KETÈLBEY, A.: Piano Music (A Dream Picture) (Tuck)
Albert Ketèlbey reached such a pinnacle of eminence and popularity that in 1929 he was named as Britain’s greatest living composer, based on the number of performances of his works. His original pieces for solo piano range from serious concert works to salon charmers, always characterised by strong melodies, distinctive rhythms, and unexpected phrases, as can be heard on this album. One of his most well-known pieces, In a Monastery Garden, is featured in its original version for solo piano.
Tracklist
|  | 1 | In The Woodlands | 02:21 |
| | 2 | A River Rêverie | 03:06 |
| | 3 | Pensées Joyeuses | 04:49 |
| | 4 | A Dream Picture | 03:30 |
| | 5 | Valse Lyrique | 03:27 |
| | 6 | Reflections | 04:13 |
| | 7 | Mirror Dance | 03:16 |
| | 8 | A Song of Summer | 02:42 |
| | 9 | Golden Autumn | 04:37 |
| | 10 | Daffodils | 02:52 |
| | 11 | Sunset Glow | 05:15 |
| | 12 | Valse-caprice | 03:55 |
| | 13 | The Shadow of Dreams | 04:10 |
| | 14 | I. This is Where the Fairies Dance | 01:35 |
| | 15 | II. The Voices of the Trees | 01:58 |
| | 16 | III. Poor Little Bird! | 02:43 |
| | 17 | IV. Oh! Look at the Rabbits! | 00:35 |
| | 18 | V. Listen - What's That? | 02:32 |
| | 19 | VI. I Do Love You! | 02:59 |
| | 20 | VII. Let's Play at Indians! | 01:22 |
| | 21 | VIII. Let's Hurry Home, it's Getting Dark | 01:22 |
| | 22 | Angelo d'amore | 04:05 |
| | 23 | Pastorale, Op. 27 | 02:38 |
| | 24 | La grâcieuse | 04:58 |
| | 25 | In a Monastery Garden | 05:45 |
The Australian pianist Rosemary Tuck was born in Sydney. She studied with John Winther in Canberra before pursuing further study with Walter Hautzig at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and finally with Andrzej Esterhazy, himself a pupil of Heinrich Neuhaus, in Moscow. She represented Australia in a series of recitals in America under the auspices of the Australian-American Bicentennial Foundation, including a recital at Carnegie Hall. She has performed in the Sydney Opera House, the Southbank Centre in London, the National Concert Hall in Dublin and the Musikhuset Aarhus in Denmark in the presence of Queen Margrethe II.
In 2001 she gave the first official performance in the William Vincent Wallace ‘Millennium’ Plaza in Waterford, Ireland. Tuck has appeared at the Aarhus, Wexford, Vendsyssel and Liszt en Provence festivals. She has worked closely with Richard Bonynge, AC, CBE, as both soloist with orchestra and collaborative pianist, and in 2020 was both artistic director and soloist for his 90th birthday gala in London.
Her other recordings include the composers Liadov, Ketèlbey, Wallace (Naxos 8.572774, 8.572775, 8.572776) and Czerny (Naxos 8.573254, 8.573417, 8.573688, 8.573998).
Gifted as a child, Albert Ketèlbey won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music in London and soon began to find a place for himself arranging popular orchestral pieces for the piano and piano pieces for the orchestra – an indication of his own profitable activity as a composer. He held a leading position in the Columbia Record Company, providing music for the appropriate accompaniment of silent films, and appeared as a conductor. The sales of his music won him, by 1929, the title of ‘Britain’s greatest living composer’, a judgement based on his commercial success.
Orchestral Music
Many of Ketèlbey’s works exist both as orchestral and as piano pieces. Among the best known of all, earning a certain notoriety in some circles, are In a Monastery Garden and In a Persian Market.
Piano Music
Ketèlbey himself was a pianist, although he had tried his hand at other instruments. While he had enjoyed enormous success at the height of his career, by the time of his death in 1959 fashions had changed. His piano pieces were then as rarely heard as his compositions for orchestra.
