Mrs Shacklock (long may she flourish!) writes revealing of Hitler's
infatuation with the works of Albert Ketelbey; and she raises a significant
point.

Has Barenboim ever played Ketelbey in Israel? If not, why not? I for one
would be fiercely indignant if censorship proved to be responsible for the
absence of "In the Mystic Land of Egypt" from Israeli music schedules.

At the risk of straying further off-topic, legend also has it that Stalin
was very fond of the not dissimilar works of Anton Vodorinski (to whom he
fancied he was related); and that his pact with Hitler foundered on the
fierce debate the tyrants conducted about the relative merits of the two
composers.

Stalin's attempt to coerce Shostakovich into penning a parody orchestration
of Ketelbey's "The Dresden Clock and the China Figures" along the lines of
his witty send-up of "Tea for Two" is a matter for historical conjecture.
Shostakovich may well have felt that Ketelbey had done the job well enough
himself, but Stalin's idea was to bear fruit in the elegiac Dresden tribute
of the 8th String Quartet.

[ For the curious, Marco Polo publish two revealing CDs of Vodorinski's
piano music, well played by Rosemary Tuck, on 8.223699 and 8.223700.]

Christopher Webber,  Blackheath, London,  UK.
http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm
"ZARZUELA!"