manchesteronline.co.uk The hurdy-gurdy, a sort of mechanical violin (you turn a handle instead of wielding a bow, and play keys instead of stopping the strings directly), with a sound similar to bagpipes because of its usual three lower-pitched "drone" strings, has for most of its history been an instrument for the poor man and, indeed, the beggar. But there was a time (in the 18th century) when, amid the French fashion for aristocratic pastoral pursuits - Marie Antoinette's pretending to be a shepherdess and all that - it acquired a modest repertoire of sonatas in baroque and galant style. These gentlemen have re-learnt the skills of the virtuoso hurdy-gurdy from the old manuals and here present it to the world. It's an acquired taste - the buzzing tone is rather reminiscent of someone who can't play the violin very well, and the harmonic clashes with the drones whenever the music ventures from its home key are a bit unsettling at first - but it has a kind of charm, and you can't help admiring both the expertise of the hurdy-gurdy men and the inventiveness of the old composers in writing jolly tunes that fit the instruments' limited capabilities. Definitely one for explorers of the unusual.