TC Temple Church Choir

TEMPLE CHURCH CHOIR

By the Director of Music

Break © Photo by Temple Church

A year ago, I was writing about the impact the pandemic was having on live music and, in particular, the musicians who week by week provide glorious music in the Temple Church. The magnificent space and acoustics remained silent for months.

Now we are back and singing again, the joy is palpable.

During the January–March lockdown, we asked the choristers and parents to write down words they associated with the emotions experienced throughout the pandemic. The idea was to turn this into a libretto for a new 20-minute choral work to be written by composer Kenneth Hesketh, father of one of our choristers. The libretto was put together by Thomas Guthrie, a member of the choir, and the end result was a magnificent work scored for upper voices, organ, harp and desk bells. Carmina iempore viri is a powerful and moving work, which challenged everyone involved – a true Temple triumph. It received its debut on 11 June, when our 21 choristers performed a live concert on BBC Radio 3. The sheer determination and effort from each and every one was nothing short of Herculean, especially since singing at a social distance is incredibly difficult. Young choristers are left feeling remote and unsupported, the sound ‘spreads’, and there is difficulty finding the core to the tone. Rhythmically, the challenges are greater as the sound travels slowly. Given the year without any live singing, it isn’t difficult to see that this particular concert was probably the biggest challenge the choir has had since the aftermath of the Blitz.

In the church, state-of-the-art equipment now enables all events to be streamed live on YouTube. The raison d’être of the church is to support and provide the two Inns with beautiful worship at times of joy and sadness. How wonderful it is that this is now available to everyone and can be appreciated much more widely than ever before. We have two exciting new initiatives in the music department. The most significant is the formation of four choral scholarships for females aged between 16–20. In our first batch of auditions, we were delighted by the quality of candidates. Nine young ladies sang to a panel of musicians. They were required to prepare one own-choice piece, respond to some sight singing and aural tests, and sing a duet with a professional singer. The duet had to be learnt at a week’s notice so that we could ascertain the level of speed of learning, which is important for this scholarship.

The newly appointed sopranos will receive singing lessons and mentoring, and have the opportunity to sing in a professional environment alongside our expert adult choir, the Temple Singers. This choir is made up of some of the finest choral singers in London, each with their own freelance career. Their role here is primarily to sing at weddings and memorial services. They also sing regularly at Wednesday evensong.

This choir is made up of some of the finest choral singers in London, each with their own freelance career. Their role here is primarily to sing at weddings and memorial services. They also sing regularly at Wednesday evensong.

The second initiative concerns the magnificent Temple Church organ, considered one of the finest instruments in London. While unashamedly Victorian, it is remarkable and versatile, excellent for accompaniment and, since the rebuild and enlargement in 2013, suitable for almost all repertoire.

2020 was the 150th anniversary of Louis Vierne’s birth, and the organ world was set to celebrate one of its heroes. Like most events, the planned celebrations were cancelled, but with the onset of the first lockdown I had the thought to record the Six Symphonies. Fugue State Films agreed to promote it and, with funding from Temple Music Foundation, we were able to record it with both sound and video. There were challenges given the pandemic – no assistance at the console, the recording engineer in the vestry and the producer in Kent! – however, we are delighted with the results and, most importantly, the Temple organ sounds phenomenal. Of course, the organ has not got the very same colours as Notre-Dame but Vierne, unlike his two predecessors, was a travelling recitalist and was used to the organs in America. Therefore, the music is adaptable and strong enough to work on a large Victorian instrument. By coincidence, the current Temple organ was inaugurated by Marcel Dupré, Charles-Marie Widor’s successor at Saint-Sulpice.

However, we are delighted with the results and, most importantly, the Temple organ sounds phenomenal.

Background: Louis Vierne was one of the 20th century’s greatest organ composers. He was organist at Notre-Dame in Paris for 37 years and famously died at the console during a concert. His six organ symphonies are considered to be the pinnacle of a style of writing pioneered in the Grand Pièce Symphonique by César Franck, organist at the Basilica of Saint-Clotilde, Paris, for 32 years. At the same time Franck was writing, organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was bringing new colours and timbres to the organ, developing new stops and transforming the instrument into a self-contained orchestra. Charles-Marie Widor, organist at Saint-Sulpice, Paris, further developed Franck’s new ‘symphonic’ style and, finally, Louis Vierne pushed it to its limits.

Vierne’s life was tragic, and the pain of his depression and anguish of losing a brother and son is palpable in some of his music. He was registered blind and suffered a serious accident, after which he had to completely relearn his pedal technique. Despite this, he had a strong and positive spirit, and this juxtaposition gives his music power and beauty.

Roger Sayer

Organist – Director of Music The Temple Church