Proms 2: The story of the Universe, and Stalin

For this Prom I had a seat at the front of the stalls on the same level as the orchestra. The mostly-sandalled-and-bearded Promenaders, the season-ticket holders who stand every night immediately in front of the orchestra, were just in front of me. This was a good seat for the first performance Skyline (Concerto for three percussionists, timpani and orchestra) by the French composer Edith Canat de Chizy) because I could see very close the extraordinarily complex manoeuvres that the percussionist Emma Harden had to make. She had drums, cymbals, a glockenspiel (was it?), which she played at one point with four drumsticks. and other things to bang. Her kit was in front, behind, and beside her, and she had to spring from one to the other. She rarely rested. The same went for the other two percussionists, one of whom seemed mostly to be playing the kind drumkit that brought back memories of the 30-minute drum solos of Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, the Baker-Gurvitz Army, and similar groups…