I agree with you Steve - they exist for fun - but it's a shame that the key restrictions of some instruments also restrict the colour and shape of an evening's music in a way it wouldn't have done some years ago.

It's not a question of showing off - some tunes just sound so much better in a particular key. Here's an example. That nice Detroit strathspey (!) by Joan Macdonald Boes "The Sweetness of Mary" is invariably played down here in Sussex in D. The written key - aimed at the violin - is A, and it sounds so much more vibrant when played in A.

I'm not making a big deal of it all - just sorry that so many different and lovely tunes are crammed into a few key ranges.