Albert William Ketèlbey was an English composer, conductor and pianist, best known for his short pieces of light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham and moved to London in 1889 to study at Trinity College of Music. After a brilliant studentship he did not pursue the classical career predicted for him, becoming musical director of the Vaudeville Theatre before gaining fame as a composer of light music and as a conductor of his own works.
Albert Ketèlbey
The Birmingham and Midland Institute (demolished) in Paradise Street, Birmingham
Blue plaque on the current institute building, commemorating Ketèlbey's time as a student of the school of music
The cover for In a Monastery Garden (1915)
Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century. The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and suites designed to appeal to a wider context and audience than more sophisticated forms such as the concerto, the symphony and the opera.
The Scarborough Spa Orchestra, the last surviving professional seaside orchestra, giving a concert of light music in August 2009.
The cover of Eric Coates's autobiography, featuring a facsimile of a motif in his Knightsbridge March. Coates is often considered the "King of Light Music"