Frederick Keel

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James Frederick Keel (8 May 1871 - August 1954) was an English composer of art songs, baritone singer and academic.

Keel was a successful recitalist and a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music.

He combined scholarly and artistic interest in English songs and their history.

His free settings of Elizabethan and Jacobean lyrics helped pioneer the revival of interest in the genre.

He was also an active member of the English folksong movement.

During World War I, Keel was interned at the Ruhleben Prisoner of War Camp in Germany, where he played an active role in the musical life of the camp, giving many recitals to help boost the morale of the fellow civilians detained there.

Keel was one of the few singer-songwriters of English art songs of his day.

Among his better known compositions are settings of Salt Water Ballads by the poet John Masefield, including 'Trade Winds', the popularity of which has given Keel a reputation for being a "one-song composer".