Ricketts, Frederick J.

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Ricketts, Frederick J.

Ricketts, Frederick J. , English bandmaster and composer who used the pseudonym Kenneth J. Alford; b. London, Feb. 21, 1881; d. Reigate, Surrey, May 15, 1945. Trained first as an organist, Ricketts graduated from Kneller Hall, afterward serving his longest stint as bandmaster of the Royal Marines (1928–44). In Feb. 1914 he publ., under his pseudonym “Alford” (not to be confused with the American bandmaster and composer Harry L. Alford), his popular march Col. Bogey, epitomizing the steadily swinging and moderately paced English military march. Col. Bogey reached its height of fame when it was introduced into the film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1958).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire