Temple Music February - July 2020

Temple Music February – July 2020 World-class classical concerts in the awe-inspiring spaces of the Temple – the heart of London’s historic legal quarter

www.templemusic.org | 020 7427 5641

Thursday 13 February 7pm Temple Church

Poulenc Gloria Temple Youth Choir Temple Church Choir Temple Singers Roger Sayer director Augusta Hebbert soprano Charles Andrews organ The choristers of the Temple Church Choir, the newly-formed Temple Youth Choir and the Temple Singers come together for a joyful event to open the spring season. Poulenc’s glorious mass setting, full of freshness and energy, will be the central work in a concert of magnificent choral music. £10 - £20

Generously supported by The Honourable Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple

Monday 24 February 7pm Middle Temple Hall

Razumovsky Ensemble Mendelssohn Octet Brahms Sextet No. 1 Prokoviev Sonata for two violins The Razumovsky Ensemble draws together world-class musicians, handpicked by cellist Oleg Kogan for each concert, so that every performance is fresh and exciting, with every programme showcased at its best. Mendelssohn’s Octet, with its abundant melodies and infectious rhythms, is performed alongside Brahms’ warm and rich first Sextet and Prokoviev’s sonata, which was described by his son as “lyrical, playful and fantastic in turn”.

“The extraordinary thing is that no matter who is playing, no matter the repertoire, Kogan and his friends earn astonishing reviews.” The Independent Generously supported by Lord and Lady Lloyd of Berwick

£5 - £45 including interval drinks

Tuesday 10 March 7pm Temple Church

Vivaldi Gloria Temple Singers Temple Players Thomas Allery director Rachel Ambrose Evans soprano Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano Programme also includes music by Strozzi, Cozzolani, Cecilia McDowall and Judith Bingham One of sacred music’s most uplifting works, Vivaldi’s Gloria, is given a special performance by the voices for which it was written – an all-female choir. The concert, which celebrates the centenary of women being admitted to the Bar and marks International Women’s Day, will open with a selection of choral works by leading female composers spanning all musical periods. £10 - £35 Generously supported by The Honourable Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple

Tuesday 17 March 7.30pm Temple Church

Bach St. John Passion Collegium Musicum of London Greg Morris director Simon Wall Evangelist Jimmy Holiday Christus Grace Davidson soprano William Towers alto With Easter approaching, we welcome back Collegium Musicum of London, an exceptional chamber choir who are joined by exceptional soloists. Together they will perform one of Bach’s most popular sacred works. The St. John Passion is a truly optimistic work, filled with light and hope, and renowned for its sheer beauty and dramatic contrasts.

“A wonderful choir, with high standards and deep commitment.”

James Conway, Artistic Director, English Touring Opera £15 - £45

Wednesday 25 March 7pm Middle Temple Hall

Temple Song

Strauss Four Last Songs Lucy Crowe soprano Julius Drake piano Berg Seven Early Songs Strauss Four Last Songs Songs by Strauss and Schumann Lucy Crowe, leading lyric soprano and outstanding in her generation, makes a welcome return to Temple Music. Having received exceptional reviews as Poppea in the Royal Opera House production of Handel’s Agrippina, her performance of Strauss’s sublimely beautiful Four Last Songs and Berg’s Seven Early Songs, written before he embraced serialism and inspired

by Strauss, Mahler and Debussy, is keenly anticipated.

“Crowe’s voice always had bags more soul than your average soubrette. There’s real moral force to her singing, and it was the evening’s most beautiful too.” Opera Now £5 - £45 including interval drinks

The President’s Circle £1,500 per annum

Members are invited to the annual Circles chamber recital and reception. They also enjoy top-priority booking, dedicated concert seats and opportunities to meet the artists informally after performances.

Supporters’ Circles By joining the Temple Music family, your generosity will enable us to continue together to present world-class music in the heart of London’s historic legal district.

Temple Music Foundation, a registered charity, is indebted to its supporting individuals and groups without whom it could not sustain its work and concert programmes.

To join, or for more information, call 020 7427 5641 or visit www.templemusic.org/support-us

The Chairman’s Circle £1,001 per annum

Members are invited to the annual Circles chamber recital and reception. They also enjoy top-priority booking and opportunities to meet the artists informally after performances.

Silver Circle £500 per annum

Members receive priority booking and the opportunity to meet artists informally after performances.

Bronze Circle £250 per annum

Members are invited to meet the artists informally after performances.

Young Circle

(35yrs and under) £25 per annum Open to anyone up to the age of 35, members have the opportunity to buy two of the best available tickets for £5 each for all concerts.

Monday 6 April 7pm Temple Church

A Concert for Passover

Bernstein Chichester Psalms Temple Church Choir Roger Sayer director West London Synagogue Choir Christopher Bowers-Broadbent director Programme also includes Synagogue Music for Passover including The Song at the Sea, Hallel Psalms, Barechu and Yiheyu.

The premiere of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms was conducted

by John Birch, later organist at the Temple Church. Bernstein referred to it as “my youngest child, old-fashioned and sweet”. This reflects its accessible and exciting nature but underplays the momentous role it has played ever since as the only mainstream choral work to be sung in Hebrew. This special event, heralding Passover, will include Jewish traditional music and readings by Rabbi Helen Freeman. £10 - £25

Wednesday 20 May 7pm Middle Temple Hall

Temple Song

Seven Ages of Man Mark Padmore tenor Roderick Williams baritone Julius Drake piano Following their acclaimed performance of ‘The Sea’ in 2015, Mark Padmore, Roderick Williams and Julius Drake return to Middle Temple Hall to present their new programme of music and readings about life’s journey from childhood to old age. The wide ranging and diverse repertoire will include pieces by Shakespeare, Schubert, Hardy, Schumann, Lewis Carroll, Britten, Emily Dickinson and Haydn.

“It’s hard to think of a singer more seriously dedicated to his art than the tenor Mark Padmore.” The Telegraph “Roderick Williams communicated with no less immediacy and honesty, his beautifully appealing voice speaking with unaffected sincerity and finely defined feeling.” Opera Today £5 - £50 including interval drinks Generously supported by The Roger and Ingrid Pilkington Trust

Thursday 21 May 7pm Temple Church

Temple Church Choir Roger Sayer director Charles Andrews organ Verdi Pater noster Stanford Three Motets Handel Let the Bright Seraphim; Let their celestial concerts all unite James MacMillan Miserere; O Radiant Dawn Janáček Otčenáš For a concert of religiously inspired music there are few safer hands than the choir of the Temple Church. Settings of The Lord’s Prayer wrap around a programme that includes James MacMillan’s exquisite Miserere, commissioned and championed by The Sixteen, and highlights from Handel’s most dramatic oratorio Samson.

“James MacMillan ranks amongst a trio of truly great composers of sacred music, the other two being Tomás Luis de Victoria and Francis Poulenc.”

Harry Christophers, Founder and Conductor, The Sixteen £15 - £40

Tuesday 2 June 7pm Temple Church

Keyboard Conversations: Celebrating Beethoven Jeffrey Siegel pianist Beethoven Rage Over a Lost Penny; Theresa Sonata Op. 78; Farewell Sonata Op. 81a Having performed as a soloist with many of the world’s best orchestras, Jeffrey Siegel launched his popular Keyboard Conversations concerts to give audiences an extra insight into the music he delights in performing. Lively, captivating commentary precedes virtuosic performances of piano masterpieces. The concert will conclude with a fast-paced question and answer session.

“His performances were expressive and full of passion.

This is an artist who means every note he plays.”

New York Times £15 - £20 including post-concert drinks Promoted by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

Generously supported by The Honourable Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple

Tuesday 23 June 7.30pm Temple Church

Holst Singers Stephen Layton director Fauré Requiem Howells Requiem One of Britain’s foremost choirs partners two requiems to showcase Temple Church’s celestial acoustic. Fauré’s much-loved Requiem needs no introduction but, for many, Howells’ will be a delightful new discovery. Remaining unknown for almost fifty years until just before the composer’s death in the 1980s, it is deemed by many to be one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenchingly moving works in the English sacred music canon.

“Too many felicities of colour, nuance and detail to mention ... the Holst Singers gave everything.” The Critics Circle £10 - £20 Generously supported by Michael McLaren QC

Thursday 2 July 7pm Middle Temple Hall

Temple Song

Mahler Das Lied von der Erde Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Stuart Jackson tenor Julius Drake piano Widely regarded as Mahler’s greatest masterpiece, The Song of the Earth is undeniably melancholic but in the most beautiful of ways. The sheer emotion imparted by combining the text with Mahler’s deeply reflective mood is tangible. In the hands of these two outstanding British singers, who, seemingly effortlessly, convey feeling in every phrase they sing, this is sure to be a wonderfully moving performance.

“Alice Coote ushering us into the beyond with haunting tenderness: on this form, she is matchless. This was not just a ‘Song of the Earth’ it was out of this world.” The Times £5 - £50 including pre-concert drinks from 6.30pm

Temple Music Foundation

was founded in 2002 to raise the funds required for the realisation of Sir John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple. The all-night vigil received huge critical acclaim and has subsequently become widely recognised as one of Tavener’s most important work.

Following the premiere performances in Temple Church, TMF moved on to support the development of music more generally within the Temple. Temple Music has grown steadily over the past 18 years to become a year-round, world-class, classical music season.

Temple Music

prides itself on the exceptional quality of the music, musicians and venues it brings together for its audience.

Combining the very best performers of today with awe-inspiring, historic spaces, it presents intimate concerts in a magical area of London.

The Temple

hides serenely behind the busy, nonstop world of Fleet Street. One step through the grand black doors of the only surviving Jacobean town house in the City of London and suddenly you find yourself in the peaceful cobbled lanes of The Temple. As today’s leading lawyers work busily in their chambers, as their predecessors have done for well over 700 years, the magnificent architecture, hidden courtyards and manicured gardens belie the legal battles being fought within their sights.

“The Temple is an oasis of calm in central London.”

The Guardian

The venues in which we present our concerts are beautiful jewels within the crown that is The Temple, each one historic, each one unique and each one providing the perfect setting for our performances.

The origins of the

Temple Church date back to the late 12th century when it was built by the Knights Templar and, as such, it is one of the oldest and most awe-inspiring churches in London, which today is as well known and loved for its music as for its history.

It offers a serenely calm atmosphere and a remarkable acoustic in which to be immersed in our concerts.

“The singers commenced at the east end of this glorious church. Then, leaving behind the impressive stained glass of the east windows, they processed through the rectangular chancel, resting in the pointed arch which connects the Gothic and Norman parts of the church.” Opera Today

Middle Temple Hall is one of the finest examples of an Elizabethan Hall in London. Spanning 100 feet long by 40 feet wide, its magnificent double hammer-beam roof sits atop wood-panelled walls lined with ornate Coats of Arms and glorious oil paintings. Although used extensively by the members of the Middle Temple, admission to the public is generally limited to invitation-only events and concerts.

“Middle Temple Hall is an exciting space.

Somehow austere and ornate all at once, it generates a self-contained, imposing atmosphere before a note is even played.”

Adrian Ainsworth (reviewer)

Booking Information Online Booking www.templemusic.org Available up until 12noon on the day of the performance.

Telephone Booking 020 7427 5641 If no one is available to take your call please leave a message with your name and contact number and we will return your call at the earliest opportunity.

Online and telephone bookings are subject to a £1.50 booking fee. All tickets booked two weeks or more in advance will be sent to you by post.

Support Us Temple Music Foundation is a registered charity and can only present its work through partnership with groups and individuals who support and fund its concerts. By joining the Temple Music family, your generosity will enable us to continue together to present world-class music in the heart of London’s historic legal district.

For full details please contact us on 020 7427 5641 or tmf@templechurch.com Online information: www.templemusic.org/support-us We are extremely grateful to our corporate sponsors and chambers circle members for their support:

On the door Tickets are available 30 minutes before the performance (subject to availability).

Student Tickets A limited number of student tickets priced at £5 are available for all of our concerts.

To book please call 020 7427 5641.

Please note current student ID may be requested upon entry to the concert.

Young Circle Tickets

RUSSELL-COOKE SOLICITORS

Young Circle members aged 35 years and under can book two of the best available seats for any concert for £5 each. For full details visit www.templemusic.org/support-us TMF reserves the right to make any alterations to the programme or to change the artists as a result of circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

Temple Music Foundation 1 Inner Temple Lane Temple, London EC4Y 1AF 020 7427 5641

Temple Music Registered Charity No. 1095141 Company No. 459441

Temple Music Foundation @templemusicfdn Join our e-list online at www.templemusic.org or by sending us an email entitled ‘e-list’ to tmf@templechurch.com