It was about this time that I experienced my first recording sessions at the EMI Studios in Abbey Road, St. John's Wood. We would all huddle on to a replica of the Queen's Hall platform with, for some reason known only to Beecham, the oboes placed in front of the flutes, clearing our throats as hard as we could and praying that we would not get an irresistible tickle once the red light was on. The engineers were absolutely paranoid about extraneous noises and at my first session, recording the Prelude and Closing Scene from "Koanga", the problem seemed almost insurmountable as in the middle of the playing time of four minutes we all had to turn over with loud rustles to start the second extract. Beecham's suggestion that the microphones should be switched off for a few seconds and then switched on again was at first viewed as highly unorthodox, but that was what had to be done. The whole orchestra turned over the pages as one man and seized the opportunity for a quick cough as well. << less