Robert Kelly (1916-2007) was an American composer represented in the Pristine catalogue by Sunset Reflections from his Adirondack Suite. He studied at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute, placing him within the mid-century American orchestral world.

The Adirondack Suite dates from the early 1940s, and its atmospheric movement was introduced by Leopold Stokowski with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The piece evokes sunset in the mountains through lyrical and reflective orchestral writing.

Kelly’s music, as represented here, is tonal, pictorial and direct, with a strong feeling for landscape and mood. It belongs to the same broad American concert environment as Harris, Creston and Schuman.

He remains a specialist figure, but his presence in historic broadcast repertory is worth preserving. This is the kind of name that survives because a conductor opened a door and let a small landscape in.