William Brown spent his working life playing the violin in orchestras throughout UK. During this time he got to know, extremely well, all the orchestral instruments, and the composers of the music they played. When he retired he brought his sense of humour into 'play' and wrote a series of witty verse about both instruments and composers. This book contains some of them. From the sultry bass flute to the seductive clarinet and the dazzling E flat clarinet, to the vulnerable keyboard we move on to the composers. How did Alkan meet his end when reaching for a copy of the Talmud? Who knows who composed 'Singing in the Rain'? Where did Jerome Kern get his name from? All these questions and many more are answered by William Brown in Quirky Quavers. His affection for the orchestra and the masters who composed music for it, shines through this book of verse.