It's a sound that many who grew up in North America may remember from their childhood: a chorus of tinny-sounding plastic recorders playing songs like "Hot Cross Buns" in a slow, pained manner. That's ...

What is it? The sound of primary school music rooms everywhere, forever. Everyone reading this must have played a recorder at some point – probably badly. Who uses it? Think recorders are kids toys?

Lucie Horsch, a 17-year-old prodigy, has just scored a major label contract, but she’s the latest of many great musicians to decide the recorder isn’t just for kids Lucie Horsch arrives with a small ...