London Underground Security Guard Joins Renowned Organist for Tribute to Queen
London commuters were treated to an impromptu duet between renowned organist Anna Lapwood and a security guard on September 11, with the pair performing Handel’s Lascia ch’io pianga as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth.
Anna Lapwood, who is also the director of music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, shared footage of her performance at a Victorian pipe organ which is set up at London Bridge Station.
Describing the “moving” experience, she tweeted that she “spontaneously stopped off” to play “a couple of pieces for the Queen” when “this lovely security guard, Marcella, asked if I could play Lascia ch’io pianga. Turns out she trained as a singer!”
In a further tweet Lapwood said the pair “got the audience and applause” that the security guard “deserved”, adding that they “ended up doing a whole load of duets and it was pure joy”.
One lucky commuter, illustrator Rosie Brooks, who has had her work used by Sir Paul McCartney among others, captured footage of the pair.
Sharing her footage to Twitter, she wrote that the experience was “incredibly lovely”. Credit: Rosie Brooks via Storyful
Video Transcript
[MUSIC - HANDEL, "LASCIA CH'IO PIANGA"]
