With each edition of Gramophone there comes a free cover CD, usually of classical music excerpts. However, the latest issue's CD also includes a snippet of the late great classical cellist, Jacqueline du Pré, talking about her earliest experience of the cello.

Well, I heard it on the radio when I was very small, when I was four. And, although I don't remember the sound at all, I liked it so much, apparently, that I asked my mother to give me the thing that made that sound. And she did. She gave me a big, big cello, which I learned to play. But she'll be able to tell you more accurately about that.

She was marvellous, because she has a great talent for teaching small children, and she started off by writing little tunes for me when I could hardly play the thing at all, and she added words to these tunes, and on the opposite side of the page she drew beautiful pictures illustrating the tunes. And she used to do these while I was asleep, and I could hardly wait until the morning came, because in the morning I'd wake up and find this beautiful thing waiting for me. And then we'd rush down and play it together. And that really made me very excited about the cello.