ON Tuesday, February 15, members of Prestwich Music Club welcomed back the Dulcian Wind Quintet and the pianist, Carolyn Mead. The quintet comprised flute, oboe, clarinet and horn, and each individual instrumentalist executed great skill.

The programme was well chosen in that it comprised various musical styles and periods.

The evening began with an arrangement for wind quintet of Mozarts overture to his opera The Magic Flute. It was an effective arrangement and the instruments were well balanced. The three masonic chords opening the overture were sonorous and the fugal section was well articulated, the players demonstrating a beautiful tone in all parts, and good dynamic contrasts.

The development section contrasted beautifully and the recapitulation brought the piece to its wonderful forte climax. The music was a great start.

A change in programme brought us Wind Chimes by contemporary composer, Andrew Challenger. I imagine it was difficult to count on first reading, being in 7/8. Alistair Roberts, the flautist who so ably described the pieces, remarked that "you couldn't tap your foot to it"!

The first half finished with an arrangement by a Frenchman of Dvorak's American Quartet. The quartet, now quintet, is full of beautiful Czech melodies and, again, the work demonstrated a full dynamic range, beautiful sound and excellent phrasing and breath control.

After the interval, we were treated to works by Ibert and Poulenc. In Poulencs Sextet, the group were joined by Carolyn Mead, a young and accomplished pianist. The work was a tour de force for all the players and was thoroughly enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience, who called for more.

The encore was a piece by Jim Parker for wind quintet called The Animals - and we certainly heard them. It was a humorous end to a splendid evening.

The next concert is the Jack Colam Memorial Concert, to be held at St Pauls Church, Moor Lane, Salford on March 8, 7.30pm. The concert will be presented by the talented students from Chetham's School of Music.

ANN GAJDA