The Phantom Melody Back to list of works index

This piece was written in 1912 as a cello solo for August(e) van Biene, and both he and the composer made separate recordings of it. There were other early recordings with cello, but when Ketèlbey recorded his monumental sets for Columbia, he chose to use a violin. He had also added words to the melody to make a song, which attracted three early recordings, one of which was almost certainly under his direction. It was not until 1930 that the orchestral version was recorded, but this is the version most recorded in recent times.

The original cello version is in the key of D major, a favourite with string players, as the open strings and harmonics intensify the brightness of the tone. To enable the melody to be played on the violin’s G string, the music was transposed up to Eb major, a much duller key. This higher key is used both for the violin solo version and the orchestral arrangement.

The Phantom Melody - orchestral

Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Date	Review	Locations
London Palladium O, Crean	HMV C 1916	CC 18735-III	12” 78	[Sept 30]		BL, PD, (TM CAS)
Re-issue	- 1DCD 7		CD		VLM Winter 98
New SO of London, Robinson	Decca LW 5115		10” LP	[July 54]	July 54 p.73	PD, (TM CAS,TM CD)
New SO of London, Sharples (arr.)	Decca SKL 4077		LP	[1959]	Feb 60 p.434	BL, PD
Re-issue	- Decca LXT 4329	(Spanish)	LP	[1960]		WC
Re-issue	- Decca SKC 4077	(Spanish)	CAS	[1969]		WC
Re-issue	- Decca SPA 187		LP	1971	July 72 p.253	BL, PD
Re-issue	- Decca 841203	(Spanish)	CAS	1982		WC
Re-issue	- Decca 452987-2		CD	1997		BL, PD, TM
Re-issue	- Evergreen Melodies C 62		CD	[1999]		PD, TM
Re-issue	- Decca/Universal 473720-2		CD	2003	June 03 p.50	BL, WC, (TM CD)
Re-issue	- Vocalion CDLF 8143		CD	[2011]	LMS Aut 11 p42	PD
Royal Philharmonic O, Rogers	Decca PFS 4170		LP	1969	Nov 69 p.833	BL, TM
Re-issue	- Decca DGS 16	(American)	LP	1980
Re-issue	- Decca 6594064	(Spanish)	LP	1981		WC
Re-issue	- Decca 444 786-2LPF		CD	1996	Aug 96 p.60	BL, PD, TM
Czecho-Slovak Radio SO, Leaper	Marco Polo 8.223442		CD	1992	Apr 94 p.48	BL, NX, PD, TM
Palm Court Strings, Van Loen	Shellwood SWCD 5		CD	1997	VLM Autumn 97	BL
Scarborough Spa O, Kenworthy	SPO cassette 2		CAS	?1997	VLM Spring 97

Decca 473720-2 wrongly names the conductor as Stanford Robinson.

All the conductors follow Ketèlbey’s speed for the main melody (crotchet somewhere between 52 and 60, see below). The main differences are in the amount of expressive rubato. Apart from Crean, no conductors allow the violins to use the portamenti implied by the fingerings marked in the part, but Leaper’s first horn player does use the effect delightfully. Both Rogers and Leaper add a glockenspiel not in the original scoring.

The Sharples recording is completely re-orchestrated by an anonymous arranger, in D major, in a style more appropriate to the 1950s than 1910s. Perhaps he couldn’t find a copy of the original orchestral parts, as the publisher’s archive set had been lost and none of the well-known libraries had a set. It was not until the publication of the British Union Catalogue of Orchestral Sets, and a little later the establishment of the Light Music Society Library, that such problems were overcome. I myself spent some 20 years looking for another set of The Phantom Melody to replace my missing parts. Anyone with difficulty locating Ketelbey’s music is invited to check my catalogue at http://www.albertketelbey.org.uk/catalogue/ or contact me direct.

The Phantom Melody - cello or violin solo

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Date	Review	Locations
Cello with piano	Jean Schwiller, Ketèlbey	Columbia 1898	27878	10” 78	[May 12]		BL, TM
	Re-issue	- Naxos 8.110870		CD	2004		BL, NX, PD, TM
Cello with piano	Pietro Nifosi	Zonophone A 63	Ac 6101f, z 047852	12” 78	[May 12] rec.29.2.12		BL
Cello with piano	Auguste van Biene	Edison Bell Winner 3355	3442		[?1912]	ad Dec 1919	BL, (TM CD)
Cello with piano	Peter Muscant	Aco G 15293	C 6024	10” 78	[Dec 23]
	Re-issue (Clive Weston)	- Beltona 342	C 6024	10” 78		cat.1926
Violin with piano	Albert Sandler, Ketèlbey	Columbia 9863	WAX 4642	12” 78	[Oct 29] rec.Feb 29	Oct 29 p.208	BL, (TM CAS)
	Re-issue	- EMI GX 412546				VLM Autumn 86	BL
	Re-issue	- Naxos 8.110174		CD	2001		BL, NX, PD, TM
Cello with harp	Lowri Blake, Hugh Webb	Lowri			2001, rec.1999

The sound of the Schwiller recording is remarkably clear for its age. The Naxos transfer may be on the fast side, as it sounds a semitone higher than modern pitch. However, the average metronome speed of the main melody is crotchet=56, slower than the prescribed crotchet=60 on the sheet music. There are three cuts totalling 12 bars. Schwiller occasionally amends the bowing to allow portamenti.

Van Biene roughly follows the metronome marking; my transfer sounds slightly flat, so he may in fact have played it a shade faster. He certainly employs much rubato. Nearly all leaps are linked with portamenti, and twice in the middle section he amends the melody. His coda also departs from Ketèlbey’s notes.

The Sandler recording is complete, and the main melody has a metronome speed averages crotchet=52. Sandler plays the reprise of the melody an octave higher than written, and the composer also adds a few extra notes not in the sheet music.

The Phantom Melody - other instrumental versions

Medium	Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Date	Review	Locations
Trio (Piano, violin, cello?)	Invicta Symphony Trio	Invicta 141	20063	10” 78	[?Nov 12]
Organ	Herbert Griffiths (Stoll Picture Theatre)	Broadcast 383	383A	8” 78	June 29 p.28		BL
Organ	Sydney Gustard (Trocadero Cinema, Liverpool)	HMV B 3277	BR 2291-5	10” 78	[Feb 30] rec.Mar 29	Mar 30 p.461	BL, WC, (TM CD)
	Re-issue	- Gramophone K 5879	(French)	10” 78			WC
Carillon	Trevor Workman	Bournville Carillon BC000005		CD	2003		TM
Piano	Guy Rowland	Dempsey AWK 1		CD	2009		BL, PD, TM
Guy Rowland	piano	private recording		DVD	rec. 26.11.2009		PD, TM

The recording by Workman uses his own arrangement, and was made at a live performance on Bournville Carillon, Birmingham, on 9^th August 2003.

The metronome marking on the piano music is faster than on the cello version, crotchet=76. Gustard follows this. He substitutes a new bar in the introduction and at the final cadence.

Rowland plays the main melody at crotchet=78, but takes the middle section (marked “Più mosso”) much faster than this. The final cadential bars are decorated with added octaves, arpeggios and sixths, and are drawn out for a full 39 seconds for just 24 crotchets (crotchet=37!).

The Phantom Melody - song with orchestra (= I loved you more than I knew)

Artists	Label	Matrix	Format	Date	Review	Locations
Ernest Pike (t), orchestra	Zonophone A 63	Ai 6053f, z 042033	12” 78	[May 12] rec.19.2.12		BL, (TM CD)
Arthur Reeves (bt), orchestra, ?Ketèlbey	Columbia 1934	?	10” 78	[Dec 12]
Charles Compton, orchestra	Edison Blue Amberol 23080	?	cylinder	[Apr 13]		BL, WC

Pike sings the song in Bb.