A STUDENT who played the piano continuously for 24 hours has told of last-minute drama – and the novel way he kept the music going through toilet breaks.

Tim Croston, of Iffley Road, Oxford, played at Oxford Brookes University from 8pm on Saturday until 8pm on Sunday, to help fund a degree festival.

The 28-year-old MA student performed a variety of pieces, including work by Bach and Shostakovich, and some of his own compositions.

And the music never stopped, as Mr Croston ate one-handed and employed an ingenious approach to keep the sound going at the most inconvenient moments.

He said: “I had two toilet breaks, during which I weighted down the sustain pedal – while staying in control of the piano. We had a remote control car on the strings, and, while I went to the toilet in the next room, I drove it backwards and forwards along the strings to keep the sound going.”

Describing the moment he completed the marathon effort, he said: “It was really good. The final half an hour was really tough though, and it was a great relief to finish.

“I was very tired, my chest was getting really tight, and my reading was really bad.

“My hands are still a little bit achy – they feel like your legs do after a long run – but I’ve continued to do stretches and they are not too bad.”

He added: “I had great support from students popping in and out until 3am. In fact the best music and atmosphere was between 2am and 3am.”

Mr Croston shunned caffeine and alcohol to avoid mood swings and extra toilet breaks.

He said: “I had some green tea, but that was the limit. I didn’t want to have the highs and lows of alcohol and caffeine. A sugar crash would have been disastrous, and I didn’t want too much caffeine so I wouldn’t be going to the toilet all the time.

“I had a square of chocolate or an apple every half an hour, just to keep me going.”

He continued: “I repeated some pieces, and the mood was very different during the night. I was right next to a massive window so I could see the changing light – and played lots of Bach as dawn was breaking.

“The last piece was Shostakovich’s Prelude in A Minor. I had a wind-up clock on the piano, but it turned out to be slow. I thought I had three minutes left, but one of my helpers checked the clock and realised I only had a minute. It was the only piece I knew I could play that lasts under a minute.”

The world record piano-playing marathon is 101 hours and seven minutes, which Mr Croston admitted was a daunting prospect.

He said: “I would definitely do 24 hours again for charity and maybe even 48 hours next time.”

The event raised £400 for Mr Croston’s degree festival, The Mobile Edge.

For excerpts from the performance visit timcroston.co.uk/24/blog