Toad Lane Concerts: The Kell Wind Trio

The Kell Wind Trio

The Kell Wind Trio belongs to a not very common genre which is also tricky to arrange music for.

The players have to be very adept with their instruments to cover all the musical ground that larger groups can. Alastair Roberts (flute), Geoffrey Smith (clarinet) and Ian Harvey on bassoon had all the skill to bring a wide variety of music to life.

The three musical musketeers took us on a swashbuckling ride from the elegance of Mozart to a lively folk dance by Grieg, a modern sonata by Poulenc and the timeless humour of Herold’s famous Clog Dance.

Warlock and Weber provided more great pieces which contained some familiar but half-identified tunes, culminating in Duncan’s March from Little Suite, a.k.a Dr Finlay’s Casebook, and ‘Puffing Billy’ a.k.a. Edward White’s BBC Children’s Favourites theme of the 1960s.

Some say that nostalgia is not what it used to be (joke) but strands of familiar tunes are immediately evocative and take you right back to the time and unlock memories as effectively as a colour or smell.

With excellent arrangements throughout, and informative introductions from Alastair, nostalgia quickly overcame déjà vu. The extended applause demanded an encore and a future return.

This was concert number 1,063 since taking over from the council in 2001. The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts are every Wednesday at 12.30pm at St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. No refreshments available. Contact 01706 648872 for further information.

To see details of forthcoming Toad Lane Concerts, click here.

Dr Joe Dawson