Barry Douglas (piano)/London Winds

{TABLE} Piano Quintet in E flat, Op 16 ................................. Beethoven Clarinet Sonata in F mi, Op 120, No. 1 ......................... Brahms Syrinx ......................................................... Debussy Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat, K452 .................... Mozart Sextet for Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn ...... Poulenc {/TABLE} THE final concert, of the AIB Music Festival in Great Irish Houses was given in Dublin Castle on Sunday. The evening was so warm that some of the audience used their programmes as fans, but the instrumentalists managed to preserve all the freshness and vivacity of the music.

Beethoven's Quintet Op. 16 is extraordinarily tuneful and all the players obviously relished the many opportunities they had to make the melodies sing, through the texture. Each individual contribution shed it5 particular light, but always in accordance with the other lights, thanks to the excellent, ensemble and a palpable unity of purpose.

The performance of the Brahms Clarinet Sonata by Michael Collins (clarinet) and Barry Douglas (piano) disclosed so many beauties that it could be called revelatory. It was a delight to hear piano and clarinet respond to each other with such sensitivity, bringing out not only the drama but also the sensuality of the work.

That most Debussyean of works, the Syrinx for solo flute, was played with subtle feeling by Philippa Davies. The first almost disembodied notes floated down from the balcony where she was stationed, stilling the chatter"

the audience.

Both Mozart's Quintet and Poulenc's Sextet could be classed as divertimentos, in spite of serious moments. The players approached them with understanding and enthusiasm and displayed a sharp sense of period.