Music to the ears of collectors

YOUR WEEKLY ROUND-UP OF THE REGION'S LEADING AUCTIONEERS

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ALAN Cuckston was an internationally renowned harpsichordist, organist, pianist and broadcaster - and one of the country's leading authorities on historic keyboard music - but the contents of his Yorkshire home still came as a spectacular surprise:

Two harpsichords, four grand pianos, one square piano, one upright, and a couple of chamber organs.

And it was not just the numbers that left experts open-mouthed. With a couple of exceptions they were historic instruments, dating back to 1742 in the case of one of the chamber organs, and with links to some of the giants of classic music including Handel and Beethoven.