It was was many years ago; a rare occurrence, when life became buoyant and time passed in leisurely, elongated moments….

I was listening to a live concert on CBC radio (FM): it was Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in B flat major (K. 191). I was listening though headphones and the microphone must have been very close to the bassoonist because I could hear the valves of the bassoon clacking: it was quite audible. After a few moments — my attention being drawn again and again to this noise — the valves began to sound less like the clacking that my novitiate senses had erroneously detected, and rather more like a moist, measured schplading. I became more intrigued each moment and looked forward with increasing enthusiasm to the next bassoon solo. My mind was eventually filled with an image of penguins playfully pattering about on damp tiles. The image conveyed gave the piece a whimsical quality that I was sure Mozart intended. I was completely convinced a few weeks later when I came across a song by Mannheim Steamroller entitled Wolfgang Amadeus Penguin…