Middle Temple, London

18 November 2010

Mark Padmore (tenor)
Richard Watkins (horn)
Julius Drake (piano)
Simon Callow

Programme

Ludwig van Beethoven:
Mailied
Neue Liebe, neues Leben
Adelaide
An die ferne Geliebte

Wiiliam Shakespeare: Simon Callow reading…
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (sonnet 18)
Nothing like the sun (sonnet 130)
Winter’s near (sonnet 97)

Roxanna Panufnik: The Generation of Love – world premiere, Temple Music Foundation commission. A setting of three Shakespeare sonnets, for tenor, horn and piano.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Interlude I: Hot blood, hot thoughts, and hot deeds?
Nothing like the sun
Interlude II: A woman scorned
Winter’s near

Interval

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for horn and piano in F major Op 17
Allegro moderato
Poco adagio, quasi andante
Rondo: Allegro moderato

Franz Schubert:
Vor meiner Wiege
Die Sterne
Des Fischers Liebesglück
Wilkommen und Abschied

Franz Schubert:
Auf dem Strom

The Guardian, 18 November 2010
In praise of … Temple Music

Hosting artists such as The Sixteen and Mark Padmore, the Temple Church’s success as a venue is anything but peculiar

Built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century, the Temple Church in the Inns of Court is celebrated for one of the most peculiar designs and histories of any building in London. This is appropriate, since in Church of England terms the Temple Church is officially a peculiar – a place of worship that is not part of any diocese. Nowadays, the Temple Church is most widely known for its role in Dan Brown’s bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. Through most of the 20th century, however, it also enjoyed nationwide fame for its music and, in particular, for the 1927 recording by the Temple Choir of Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer and O For the Wings of a Dove, featuring the boy chorister Ernest Lough, which earned the choir one of the earliest gold discs. The Temple Choir remains one of the most important in London, but the church has put itself on the map as a compelling music venue in other ways too. Since 2002, when the largely barrister-funded Temple Music Foundation raised funds to enable the premiere of John Tavener’s all-night vigil The Veil of the Temple to take place there, things have gone from strength to strength.Temple Music has become one of London’s most rewarding concert series, specialising in a mix of ancient and contemporary choral and vocal music. This week’s events there boast The Sixteen performing Monteverdi’s Vespers and Mark Padmore singing a Roxanna Panufnik world premiere. With artists of that calibre, the Temple’s current wave of success is anything but peculiar.