The name of Albert W. Ketèlbey (1875-1959) is synonomous with much that is best in British light music of the first part of the twentieth century. Although the heart-on-sleeve sentimentality of many of Ketèlbey's pieces can make them appear uncomfortably dated to contemporary ears, Ketèlbey was also a master of orchestral impressionism, as one of his finest works, In a Persian Market, amply demonstrates.

This Intermezzo-Scene distils the scents, sights, and sounds of an Oriental bazaar, and even if the orchestration lacks Rimsky-Korsakov's undoubted élan, the piece is undeniably effective, nonetheless.

It opens with a stern march, based on the notes A, B flat, E. This leads to a chant, whose modal chacteristics might seem more suggestive of the folk music of North American Indians than of a Persian Bazaar. The march figure returns, after which Ketèlbey interpolated a new 22-bar section entitled "The call to prayer," in later editons of the work, which ends abruptly after a reprise of the choral chant. When first published in 1920, In a Persian Market was offered for sale as "An educational novelty." It has certainly remained a staple accompaniment for comic oriental stage scenes ever since. The piece was also used in schools as "music and mime" repertoire.

© Michael Jameson, All Music Guide