Laughter, Joy, Be Wakeful & Deep Thoughts On The Bus, Lockdown Videos Viewed Before Breakfast, 28 April 2020

I woke up this morning to find two video links in my e-mail inbox, which conjured up very different emotions.

Ian Pittaway, my early music teacher, having seen so many examples of video-conference-based music making in the past few weeks, was amused to find a seeming spoof of the genre…except that the following video was made years before Zoom and lockdown:

I laughed a lot.

In truth, some of the examples I have seen of lockdown music making have been very good indeed, while others have been unintentionally laughable.

Actually the best example of multi-part lockdown music-making I have seen so far came out quite early in the lockdown. Especially impressive because the supremely talented Peter Whelan, whom Janie and I saw at The Wig at the end of last year, really can play several instruments and sing in more than one register…

…so he performs this beautiful Bach Cantata all by himself, with his tongue only slightly in his cheek:

But the really thought-provoking video this morning came from Rohan Candappa. Rohan has now decided to vent his spleen at the UK Government’s mendacious attempt to claim success so far in the coronavirus pandemic, where all the evidence suggests that we have a great deal to learn in the UK if we are to emerge eventually from this crisis without additional self-inflicted damage. It includes a touching tribute to transport workers, who are among the forgotten heroes of the crisis.

Rohan’s short, beautifully-crafted monologue is entitled “Bus”:

This last piece won’t cheer you up, so you might want to go back to The Muppets and/or Peter Whelan after watching Rohan’s piece, to make yourself feel a bit better again.

That’s what I did.

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