One prank for which I was unashamedly accountable happened after we had practised very diligently the first movement of the G minor Fauré piano quartet. Before we started the slow movement I remarked to my companions that I felt tired and would lied down for five minutes. To their astonishment I proceeded to crawl under the piano with bow and viola, and lying flat on my back asked Murdoch to begin the slow movement, in which the viola joins the piano in a lovely melody marked pianissimo. I played this with exaggerated drawling, sickly portamenti, replete with faulty intonation, and had not proceeded very far when suddenly Murdoch hit the piano with a tremendous left-hand fortissimo chord low down in the bass which sounded to me in my position like a cannon shot. That put an end to my escapade and I crawled out from under the piano feeling as if I had concussion of the brain! << less