Funerals and Thanksgivings

The Finzi Gala Day comprises a matinée recital and an evening orchestral and choral celebration.  For details of the evening concert, click [here]

Robert Plane (clarinet)
Nick Pritchard (tenor)
Iain Burnside (piano)
Ian Tindale (piano)
Performers from Sinfonia Smith Square

Join us for a special anniversary gala celebrating the life and music of Gerald Finzi, marking the 125th anniversary of his birth and the 70th anniversary of his death. Presented in association with the Finzi Trust, this day brings together some of Britain's leading musicians to explore the breadth and distinctive character of one of England's most cherished composers.

The matinée recital features a selection of Finzi's chamber music alongside songs that span the familiar and the newly discovered. Nick Pritchard and Ian Tindale perform works drawn from their new Finzi recording, released the same month, including songs receiving their first public performances. Chamber works for clarinet, piano and strings complete a programme that reflects Finzi's lyrical voice, warmth and deep affinity with English poetry and landscape.

Programme

Gerald Finzi (1901–1956)

Prelude for Strings, Op. 25
Interlude for Oboe and String Quartet, Op. 21
Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 23
Eclogue for Piano and Strings, Op. 10
Selected Songs for Tenor and Piano

Ticket price includes a complimentary Gala programme book.

More information and booking.

The Finzi Gala Day comprises a matinée recital and an evening orchestral and choral celebration.  For details of the matinée, click [here]

Robert Plane (clarinet)
The Temple Singers
Sinfonia Smith Square
Thomas Allery (conductor)
Dr Jonathan James BEM (conductor)

The culmination of a special anniversary gala celebrating the life and music of Gerald Finzi, this evening concert marks the 125th anniversary of the composer's birth and the 70th anniversary of his death. Presented in association with the Finzi Trust, it brings together some of Finzi's finest orchestral and choral works in the setting of Temple Church.

The programme opens with the lyrical Romance for string orchestra, followed by the Clarinet Concerto, one of Finzi's final compositions, performed by Robert Plane with Sinfonia Smith Square.

Following the interval, The Temple Singers and Sinfonia Smith Square present three of Finzi's most admired choral works. The programme concludes with Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice, the expansive festival anthem composed in 1946 for the 53rd anniversary of the consecration of St Matthew's Church, Northampton, a work that stands among the composer's greatest achievements in sacred music.

Programme

Gerald Finzi (1901–1956)

Romance, Op. 11
Clarinet Concerto, Op. 31
Magnificat, Op. 36
For St Cecilia, Op. 30
Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice, Op. 26

Ticket price includes a complimentary Gala programme book.

More information and booking.

Dido - Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano)
Aeneas - Jonathan Brown (baritone)
Belinda - Anna Dennis (mezzo-soprano)
Sorceress - Hilary Summers (contralto)

Early Opera Company
Christian Curnyn (conductor)

Experience the drama and beauty of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in a thrilling concert performance by the Early Opera Company under the baton of Christian Curnyn in the historic surroundings of Temple Church. This moving masterpiece tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her love for the Trojan hero Aeneas, ending in heartbreak when he abandons her.

A dream cast is led by mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor, whose sumptuous voice captivated Temple audiences in her recent recital.  Aeneas is the resolute Canadian baritone Jonathan Brown, and Belinda is the wonderful soprano Anna Dennis.

From Dido’s haunting lament to the opera’s vibrant choruses, this performance promises emotional intensity, vocal artistry, and brilliant period playing. Paired with Purcell’s radiant ode Welcome to all the Pleasures and presented in one of London’s most beautiful and historic settings, it offers an unforgettable evening of Baroque music.

This performance is generously supported by Continuo Foundation, in partnership with the Purcell Society, and by Blackstone Chambers.

More information.

Sung by the Temple Singers

Organ prelude: Wir gläuben all’ an einen Gott BWV 680 (Bach)
Introit: We wait for thy loving kindness (McKie) 
Responses: Radcliffe 
Canticles: Gloucester service (Howells) 
Anthem: Faire is the Heaven (Harris) 
Preacher: The Revd Prof Michael Banner, Dean of Chapel Trinity College, Cambridge
Organ: Allegro maestoso from Sonata in G, op 28 (Elgar)

Please enter the Temple via Tudor Street

Sung by the Temple Church Choir

Organ prelude: Menuetto-Impromptu (Ireland)
Introit: I would find thee (Thalben-Ball) 
Responses: Clucas 
Psalm 128 (Parry) 
Te Deum: Stanford in B flat 
Jubilate: Britten in C 
Anthem: And the glory of the Lord (Handel) 
Organ voluntary: Chorale-Fantasia on Darwell’s 148th (Darke)

Sung by the Temple Church Choir 

Organ: Rhapsody no 1 in D flat (Howells)
Introit: Locus iste (Bruckner) 
Responses: Tomkins 
Psalm 148 (Smart) 
Canticles: Jackson in G 
Anthem: Thou, O God, art praised in Sion (Malcolm Boyle) 
Organ voluntary: Prelude in C (Bairstow)

Sung by the Temple Singers

Organ: Improvisation on ‘Slane’ from Three Hymn Tune Fantasias (Francis Pott)
Introit: Anima Christi (Amy Summers)  
Setting: Missa Ego flos campi (Padilla) 
Psalm 141 vv 1-9 (Rogers) 
Motet: TBC
Organ voluntary: Fugue in G minor BWV 578 (Bach)

Sung by the Temple Singers

Organ prelude: Pieds-en-l’air (Warlock arr Edward Dean)
Introit: O virtus sapientiae (Hildegard von Bingen) 
Responses: Leighton 
Psalm 46 (Luther) 
Canticles: Murrill in E 
Anthem: Beyond Light (Greg May)  
Organ voluntary: Carillon de Westminster (Vierne)