Musical Statues
A Soundtrack Of History Walking Tour
What is the sound of history? Its soundtrack? The tunes of glory that played at times of great victories? Do you know the music inspired the great and good of history?
Or to put it in a 21st century context… What would be the bangers on Florence Nightingale’s or Abe Lincoln’s Spotify Unwrapped?
More importantly… why didn’t Churchill like whistling?
In the old children’s game Musical Statues, when the music stops we all stop, too. On this walking tour it’s when the music STARTS that we’ll find some unexpected historical tales.
This epic and musically eclectic new walking tour sets out to answer all these questions and more.
The Streets As Gallery & Concert Hall
All too often music swirls around us in the background and we don’t stop to listen. Similarly, in the urban landscape how often do we breeze past statues and public art barely noticing that they are there?
In Westminster we walk through an art gallery every day. By the end of this tour we’ll have turned it into a concert hall, too.
This brand-new walking tour marches off in search of the songs, symphonies and seven-inch singles that soundtrack the saga of Westminster and beyond.
An alternative title for this tour could be… Statues: The Musical. Our actors are the statues on the streets of Westminster. Their stage is history itself. Our tour is their score.
Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill: music plays a powerful and surprising role in each of their stories. We’ll meet them along the route of our tour in statue form. We’ll discuss the role of music in healing with Florence Nightingale; what part music played in the downfall of Beau Brummell; and we’ll look at music marching to war and being pressed into service for propaganda purposes.
The Hit Parade – Top 10 Facts & Answers You’ll Take Home With After The Musical Statues Walking Tour
• The song that turned the tide of WWII
• Winston Churchill’s favourite singer
• A Civil Rights campaigner who inspired a No.1 single
• Abraham Lincoln’s unlikely earworm
• The German nobleman responsible for the note-perfect soundtrack to the Changing of the Guard
• Did Cromwell really cancel music?
• Does music really have healing power?
• Up which hill did the Duke of York march his 10,000 men?
• The origins of the political campaign song
• The 18th Century Londoner who inspired a band that scored 6 Billboard Hot 100 Hits
Places & Faces
Whitehall, Jermyn Street, The Mall… Yes, you have often walked down these streets before… but never before have you looked at – or listened to them – from this angle. TIP: If you’ve already joined us for The Music Of Royal London tour, this new walk pairs perfectly. And if you’d ike to to do a bit of pre-walk prep, Wikipedia has an excellent list of ALL the public statues in the City of Westminster. Have a look HERE.
Book Your Tour
This tour is also available as a private tour. If you’d like to book a private tour, use the form below to get in. touch…