Players applaud at the end of 'Leviathan', a musical work with 800 saxophones for the 800th anniversary of London Bridge
The Romans built a wooden bridge across the Thames somewhere close to the present London Bridge and it lasted a few hundred years. Further wooden bridges in Saxon times are mainly recorded when they burnt down either by accident or invaders, or got swept away in floods. Finally it was decided that a stone might be a better bet, and in 1176, Peter, chaplain of one of the many city churches, started to build the first stone London Bridge. He must have been a slow builder, as today's event on Midsummer Day, 21 June 2009, marked the 800th anniversary of the bridge. Peter’s bridge, despite a number of problems and with the aid of considerable rebuilding, lasted for over 600 years, being replaced by the Rennie bridge, shipped to the Arizona desert when it in turn was replaced by the current structure in 1967-72. Four groups, each of roughly 200 volunteer saxophonists - "Any saxophonist can take part, regardless of age or ability, all you need is a saxophone" - queued to book in at four City locations - Ludgate, Aldgate, Moorgate and Bishopsgate and at noon made their way through the ‘square mile’ to London Bridge, each playing a part of 'Leviathan', a specially commissioned work written for the City of London Sustain! Festival by John Harle. On reaching London Bridge each player moved on to a second part of the composition as the passed a marker (perhaps confusingly a large number 1.) Close to the centre of the modern bridge, a few yards west of the original, whose roadway passed through the porch of the church of St Magnus the Martyr - was a small temporary podium from which composer John Harle conducted the ensemble in the final section of the work. The 800 players then completed the crossing, still playing until they reached the Southwark end of the bridge, where they stopped around the Southwark 'Spike' and were rewarded with a free sandwich.
Size: 5040px × 3354px
Location: London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 800, 800th, anniversary, applause, bridge, city, day, festival, harle, john, leviathan, london, midsummer, mile, music, musicians, peter, saxophones, saxophonists, square, stone, sustain!, years
