Ketèlbey's descriptive miniature In a Monastery Garden is among the most famous pieces of British light orchestral music ever written. Though belonging to an epoch in which heart-on-sleeve sentimentality was the norm in salon music, this miniature (which may seem cloyingly over-romanticized to modern ears) is, nevertheless, a superb example of a once highly popular genre. The piece is basically monothematic and is an orchestral adaptation of a song originally inspired by a visit Ketèlbey paid to the Franciscan Priory in Chilworth, Surrey. The texts, like those for the similar religious meditation The Sacred Hour, were written by the composer, and the song became particularly associated with celebrated Australian baritone Peter Dawson. Aside from the delicately crafted main theme, In a Monastery Garden also features a plainchant-like Kyrie section requiring a male chorus in addition to the orchestra. The work exists in a wide variety of arrangements, some of which also feature birdsong effects.

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