It’s the musical adventure of two children, son and daughter of Henry Purcell, who are smuggled into France to hunt for arundo donax, a bamboo-like plant used for oboe and bassoon reeds. In 1704 Queen Anne and Louis XIV were battling out the War of Spanish Succession and trade was prohibited—but the Queen wanted her music.

The CD, with French and English narration, has an appropriate baroque musical background and is accompanied by explanatory notes.

Previous Juno award winners in this category are individual song writers who wrote contemporary music for children’s entertainment and edification. Tafelmusik’s award is a rare case of a group of instrumentalists performing an actual story using old music.