I once travelled between Kathmandu and Gulmarg in the back of a lorry. As we climbed, terraced hillsides and sheer drops into the river valley below became visible.

I was not alone. On board it was standing room only. Backpackers, locals – all with an open air view. Oh, and a wedding party of travelling musicians.

The road was rough and stony, with gigantic potholes into which we lurched with sickening frequency. We swerved to avoid trucks, bicycles, pedestrians, cows.

Every so often, the band struck up. We couldn’t move yet the musicians extracted their horns, their pipes, drums and stringed instruments and danced as they played.

One turbaned musician held a huge black serpent (the wind instrument not the reptile, but on that Nepalese journey, believe me, anything could have happened). He parped through it in a rhythmic, sonorous tone, to the delight of those wedged at the back.

The next time I saw such an instrument was 25 years later in Oxford, at the wonderful Bate Collection of Musical Instruments in St Aldate’s.

I asked museum manager and curator Andy Lamb to play it for me and he willingly obliged. Hearing that spirited performance, I asked him to pick up a variety of wind instruments placed on a table – and he could make a beautiful sound from every one. Even better, visitors are invited to have a go themselves.

“We’re aware of our duty to the long-term care and preservation of the collection, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to stop people playing instruments sufficiently robust, and finding out what they sound like,” Lamb said.

Strolling through the rooms, packed with almost two thousand instruments – both free-standing and in cases – many are ‘globally iconic’.

So much to enjoy: a harpsichord belonging to Handel, a plastic saxophone, an early electronic instrument – the Theremin.

And Lamb’s favourite? A 13th-century bone whistle unearthed in Abingdon.

“I love all my babies equally, but this instrument is special: it is an example of the type of instrument which dates from the very first evidence of man making music. It shows that in every culture and every country, no matter what differences we encounter, music forms a common bond,” he said.

Founder Philip Bate’s early life was not filled with music: his father disliked it being played in the house. However, he did permit his young son to sing nursery rhymes to his wife’s accompanying piano. After Bate lost his father at the age of five, his musical education increased, but it was hearing an orchestral concert at the age of 12 that unleashed Bate’s passion for collecting musical instruments.

Bate Collection, Faculty of Music, St Aldate's, Oxford. Call 01865 276139. Admission is free. Open 2-5pm.

To mark the Feast of Saint Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Music, on November 22, the Bate Collection is holding a day of family-friendly activities. See bate.ox.ac.uk

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.