Albert Ketèlbey was an excellent pianist, touring Britain and honing his craft as an expert tunesmith as musical director of London’s Vaudeville Theatre. The delightful miniature In a Monastery Garden placed Ketèlbey at the forefront of British Light Music composers, with its birdsong and atmospheric chants delivering a ‘glow of exultation’ that proved hugely popular in its day. From the unashamedly sentimental Bells Across the Meadows to the impressive Suite Romantique and the famous In a Persian Market, Ketèlbey’s music takes us back to a nostalgic era of palm court salons and imaginative reverie.

Albert Ketèlbey’s fame and popularity was ubiquitous during the 1920s and 30s but his work became neglected after the Second World War and he died in relative obscurity. His work has since been reappraised, and in a 2003 poll by the BBC radio programme Your Hundred Best Tunes, Bells Across the Meadows was voted the 36th most popular tune of all time, and the 50th anniversary of Ketèlbey's death was marked with a performance of In a Monastery Garden at the Last Night of the Proms. Some recordings of Ketèlbey’s music have been made but few of these are now easily available.

Conductor Adrian Leaper has an enormous discography of nearly 80 albums across many labels. His recordings for the Naxos and Marco Polo labels include five volumes in the British Light Music edition, and recordings of symphonies by Havergal Brian.

The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra is the oldest symphonic ensemble in Slovakia, and it has given successful concerts throughout Europe and Russia. It has for decades been a key ensemble for the Naxos label, and its recordings both on Naxos and the Marco Polo label remain references for both unusual and core repertoire today.