Micaela Haslam, Heather Cairncross
"Heather and I more or less had to run from the Barbican Theatre (straight after the Tehillim / You Are concert) to the Barbican Hall in order to make the end of the sound check.
We sorted out the microphones and ran through the second section of Drumming - for marimbas and voices. All seemed well. The tricky bit was deciding how to end the piece. When we did it at The Proms, I'd conducted 3 beats to end the piece. Steve Reich & Musicians also wanted 3 beats, but a different 3 beats, conducted in a different pattern. That all sounds very straightforward, but you try finding a downbeat in the final section of Drumming - it's a needle in a haystack!
Anyway, the concert came soon after the rehearsal and all went well, and it was great to see the Barbican Hall so full. Bob & Russ were just amazing in Part 1, as usual.
Russ & Bob in action
They take about 2 minutes to phase 1 beat apart. It's truly incredible to watch - and they always look so completely cool. I don't know how they do it.
The 3rd section is for glockenspiels, piccolo and whistling.
Steve practising his whistling
Thankfully, I'd remembered my ear plugs for that bit, otherwise it's a bit like having a small child scream in your ear. And the end of the piece was tight as a proverbial. Phew!
I'm afraid I didn't hear any more of the concert as I was feeling worse and worse. At this point I couldn't decide between hospital and going home to bed. Finally, I thought that a good night's sleep might do the trick."
Micaela
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