With the beginning of lockdown, Mawson Road, a small residential street off Cambridge’s Mill Road, organised a social media-linked support group along the lines of many other local communities. With one of Mawson Road’s residents known to be seriously ill in hospital with the Covid virus it was a serious business. There were many keyworkers in the street – GPs, teachers, nurses, consultants, lab technicians, scientists – and all those that were not key workers owed them a huge amount.
We had been out on the door steps clapping for the NHS but there was a desire for something more, Shortly after the music began.
It all started at the beginning of lockdown outside a house in Mawson Road with an impromptu solitary one-man concert of Bach’s solo cello suite no.1 in G major. That performance made a big impact and inspired a range of other residents to want to participate. The instruments and musical skills of the street’s inhabitants that had been gathering dust since the beginning of lockdown (and longer in some cases) were polished up and an extraordinary array of sophisticated and virtuosic performances ensued over the following weeks. It didn’t matter whether the players were professional or amateur, young or old – everyone’s contributions have been welcomed and treasured. In the beginning everyone played only from their doorstep or balcony – so we had many site-specific performances including one multi-location, stereophonic, sing-a-long rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow – with players at either end of the ‘rainbow’. We’ve also had:
- unaccompanied solos and performances with full PA systems
- Tallis’ Canon initiated by two children on solo recorders that then spread down the street with each canonic entry and then a full sing-a-long version of the same with new words
“A mighty debt of thanks is owed / By all who live on Mawson Road / To those who’ve helped us through this mess / Especially the NHS”
- a Pink Floyd medley led by two Addenbrooke’s consultants which led to another sing-a-long – this time of Breathe.
- Not one, but two singer/songwriters have revealed their talents – one young, one old(er), both brilliant
- Purcell, Bach, Handel, Saint-Saens & Dvorak
- Neapolitan songs, Monty Python numbers, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones & Cream covers
- songs from the shows and arias from opera
- street art and dancing
Our ears have been tickled by violins, clarinets, guitars, trombones, cellos and basses, trumpets, violas – and tormented by piano accordions!
“You’ve got to accentuate the positive” – so says the song – “Eliminate the negative, Latch on to the affirmative!” You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum, Bring gloom down to the minimum, Have faith or pandemonium’s, Liable to walk upon the scene
On Sunday 21st June – the weekend of the Summer Solstice, Midsummer Day and Fathers’ Day – an extraordinary event took place. Outside fourteen different locations in Mawson Road there were a series of community mini-concerts given by residents of this small street off Mill Road. To list but a few ,….
- 4 rock bands,
- children performing on recorders,
- respectable ladies singing from balconies
- head teachers playing Nirvana songs
- hospital consultants playing Dire Straights
- school teachers belting out 80s songs
- hairy ex opera singers playing accordion
- sewerage engineers playing mandolins