Rochdale Music Society Concert: Cuillin Sound

Cuillin Sound; Dana Morgan (flute), Sarah Watts (Clarinet) and Laurence Perkins (Bassoon)

Cuillin Sound is a group of three virtuoso wind instrumentalists - Dana Morgan (flute), Sarah Watts (Clarinet) and Laurence Perkins (Bassoon) - whose ensemble playing is skilfully organised to maximise the effect of attractive arrangements of traditional folk-song tunes and to deliver satisfying arrangements of some more mainstream classical works, as the audience in Heywood Civic discovered at the Rochdale Music Society concert on 25 March.

Beginning with an evocative picture in music, ‘The day dawns’, and ending with ‘Western Isles’, an equally evocative set of folk tunes from the Shetlands, the evening’s music was interwoven with Beethoven’s ‘Variations of La ci darem la mano’, a suitably virtuoso set of variations on “La folia” and aversion of a Rossini ‘Cavatina’ featuring the whole range of notes that can be sounded by a bass clarinet - and a somewhat unlikely, modernish take on a Handel Passacaglia, largely the work of the 20th century Swedish composer, Halvorsen.

All this was put together like the threads of the musical tapestry that is the colourful ‘Celtic Knotwork’ by Edward Maguire with which the second half of the concert began.

The audience would surely have liked there to be more of this group’s pleasurable music-making than they made time for, but it was not to be, and will not be again, since it was to be last occasion on which Sarah Watts will be appearing with the others before continuing her career as solo bass clarinet virtuoso and teacher.

A spokesperson said: "We wish her well, and the others, too, as they continue to delight audiences with their speciality sound."