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Band members received new uniforms, new drums and, most recently, new flutes and piccolos, all of it paid for by the district’s budget for the arts.

A tuba is also much harder for a thief to pilfer than, say, a piccolo, or even a trumpet.

In the Lento e deserto, the work’s only slow movement, the lonely yowlings of piccolo, bassoon and slide whistle formed a tender yet humorous trio.

And its finish: that long drawn-out sigh of clarinet, the delayed relief of its puff of piccolo — just perfect.

His father’s cousin, he said, played the saxophone and introduced him to the instrument; Mr. Press later added flute, clarinet, piccolo and others to his arsenal.