22 JULY 1989, Page 28

Clarinet

Such gravid cloakings such oaky stains How can I aged five connect these solemnities with the dismembered mechanism nestling in the purple plush of its carrying-case or with the spittly reed fitted to its top like a yellowed fingernail And how did my brother Blake a subscriber to Meccano Magazine become this lone figure in a suit in the black-and-white fishbowl of a live broadcast from the City Temple Cardiff Why does the dark music hurt Who's this Mozart and why should his movement be slow

Oliver Reynolds