Royal Academy of Music

This tall Christmas tree stands in the hallway of the Royal Academy of Music on Marylebone Road.  What kind of decorations would you expect to see in a conservatoire?  Musical notes?  Miniature oboes and cellos?  Or this, a spanner?!?

And why is the star (a perfectly traditional topping for a tree) dangling from a crane?

It turns out that this is a themed tree, and the theme is a character from a popular children’s animation show – Bob the Builder.

It’s fine for the music students to have fun with their tree, and celebrate their inner Bob.  He’s quite an inspirational character, always fixing things.

But this is the place where the musicians, conductors and composers of the future learn their trade.  I have a terrible premonition of one line of melody permeating every new symphony or oratorio written in the next twenty years.  Orchestras all over the country could be playing variations on Bob’s theme-song “Can he Fix it? Yes he Can!”.

Click here for a 30 second Youtube clip of Bob the Builder’s song (but beware, it’s hard to get the tune out of your head).

For another view of the tree, click here for the Facebook page of the Royal Academy of Music.