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  • The best churches for classical music

  • By Martin Hoyle


  • These churches hold regular choir services and are all centrally located, but there are many more around town

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    Temple Church (off Fleet Street, The City, EC4 7HL, 020 7353 8559), Grosvenor Chapel, St James’s (Clerkenwell Close, EC1R 0EA, 020 7251 1190) and Southwark Cathedral (London Bridge, SE1 9DA) all hold regular organ recitals.

    St Anne & St Agnes Gresham Street, The City, EC2V 7BX (020 7606 4986). St Paul’s tube.
    Performances
    1.10pm Mon, Fri.

    St Bride’s Fleet Street, The City, EC4Y 8AU (020 7427 0133/www.stbrides.com). Blackfriars tube/rail.
    Performances 1.15pm Tue, Fri (except Aug, Advent, Lent).

    St John’s Waterloo Road, Waterloo, SE1 8TY (020 7928 2003/www.stjohnswaterloo.co.uk). Waterloo tube/rail.
    Performances 1.10pm Wed, call ahead to check.

    St Lawrence Jewry
    Guildhall, The City, EC2V 5AA (020 7600 9478). Mansion House or St Paul’s tube/Bank tube/DLR.
    Performances
    1pm Mon, Tue.

    St Margaret Lothbury
    Lothbury, The City, EC2R 7HH (020 7606 8330/www.stml.org.uk). Bank tube/DLR.
    Performances 1.10pm Thur.

    St Martin within Ludgate
    40 Ludgate Hill, The City, EC4M 7DE (020 7248 6054). St Paul’s tube/Blackfriars tube/rail/City Thameslink rail.
    Performances
    1.15pm Wed.

    St Mary-le-Bow Cheapside, The City, EC2V 6AU (7248 5139/www.stmarylebow.co.uk). Mansion House tube/Bank tube/DLR.
    Performances 1.05pm Thur.

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14 comments

  1. Posted by Richard on 17 Nov 2010 16:54

    St Giles in the Fields and St George's Bloomsbury merit a mention here as well.
    The former hosts a series of lunchtime concerts mainly on Tuesdays with the occasional Friday. For instance on Friday 19th November TREDICI Chamber Choir is singing at 1.10pm (FREE).
    On Sunday 21st November, at St George's Bloomsbury Way, WC1 TREDICI Chamber Choir will sing again - this time at 4pm. It's a stunning 18th century church with a 3-second resonance. perfect for choral singing of this type.

  2. Posted by Nathan on 30 May 2010 15:11

    If you want to hear a really great choir of mixed voices, you should attend an Evensong service at St. Bartholomew the Great; Nigel Short conducts the choir - what a beautiful sound!

  3. Posted by Gloria on 04 May 2010 09:39

    Thank you for the listing. Our regular lunchtime recitals on Tuesday and Fridays are well attended, always bringing a variety of performers with different repertoires. Our next recital is today at 1:15pm: Maria Razumovskaya - Piano. We hope you can join us at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8AU.

  4. Posted by London Bach Society on 02 Nov 2009 13:53

    The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great, West Smithfield is London's oldest church, famous as a film location and for its unique place in the 20th Century British Bach revival at concerts given by the London Bach Society. The nearest tube is Barbican.
    On Tuesday 10 November at 7.15pm, there is another all Bach programme "The Soul of Bach" promoted as part of the London Bach Society's 19th Bachfest - Tickets start at £15 Call 01883 717372 or at the door from 6.30pm.

  5. Posted by Mary Moody on 09 Mar 2009 21:34

    St George's, Hanover Sq London W1 has excellent lunchtime recitals. The next one is on Wed 11 March 1pm Tamsin Waley-Cohen performs a solo recital on her 1721 Stradivarius violin. Music includes Chaconne from the 2nd Partita by J S Bach and Bartok's Sonata for solo violin. For full details of forthcoming recitals visit
    www.musicinmayfair.org

  6. Posted by Bruce Saunders on 13 Feb 2009 11:09

    And what about Southwark Cathedral at London Bridge? 7 or 8 choral services a week, midweek organ and instrumental recitals. And on February 28th at 7.30pm, 'Just Josquin' a programme devoted to the music of Josquin Desprez by specialist choir New Renaissance Voices. www.southwark.anglican.org

  7. Posted by Caroline Geraerts on 25 Jan 2009 16:07

    Some fablulous concerts coming up at St John's Fulham. Amazing acoustics and wonderful performers. See http://www.stjohnsfulham.org/music/

  8. Posted by Ian Wells on 17 Aug 2008 21:53

    Good to see Brompton Oratory praised here. Two points: the solemn mass at wehich the choir sings is at 11 am on a Sunday; they also sing Vespers at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon. There are occasional weekday evening services on great feasts, while Holy Week is fully celebrated. The organ is indeed a beauty but it dates from 1954; Oratory organist Ralph Downes designed it at the same time that he was doing the organ in the Royal Festival Hall.

  9. Posted by Roger Paxton on 19 Jun 2008 17:30

    St Georges Church, Hanover Square should also be added to the list, as it was the church where Handel worshipped. Every year it hosts the Annual London Handel Festival in the spring, and also a performance of Messiah each December.

  10. Posted by Katie Hillier on 27 May 2008 13:49

    St Andrews, Fulham Fields also has an active musical calendar, including a music festival taking place on 20-22 June 2008. Highlights include a clerical barbershop quartet, free organ recital and a concert from Commotio, one of Oxford's leading chamber choirs. For further details please visit www.standrewsfulham.com or call 07711 980279.

  11. Posted by Christopher Temmink on 01 May 2008 11:40

    St. Mary-le-Strand have a concert every term bu Incagliati. Next one is detailed below.
    Event name:
    Incagliati and Coro Santo Spirito

    Artists:
    "Incagliati" directed by Catherine McKay (http://www.incagliati.co.uk) and Coro Polifonico "Santo Spirito" from Ferrara, Italy (http://www.corosantospirito.it) directed by Francesco Pinamonti.

    Date:
    Saturday 31st May 2008 at 7.30pm.

    Event location:
    St. Mary-le-Strand church, (http://www.stmarylestrand.org) Strand, London WC2B 1ES.

    Tube:
    The nearest station is Temple (Circle and District lines). Alternative nearby stations are Covent Garden, Holborn, Charing Cross and Embankment.
    National Rail:
    The church is near to Charing Cross, Waterloo and Blackfriars stations.

    Price:
    £10 full price. £5 concessions

    Brief description:
    Incagliati were founded by Catherine McKay and Ben Cox in November 2004. They rehearse in the church of St Mary-le-Strand – hence their name (‘The Stranded Ones’) – where, since March 2005, they have performed one concert per term. Their repertoire is diverse: previous concerts have featured music by Bach, Barnby, Britten, Bruckner, Charpentier, Fauré, Howells, Mendelssohn, Monteverdi, Parry, Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, Schütz, Tippett, and Vaughan Williams. Incagliati also have a commitment to singing new works by contemporary composers, such as Ego flos campi (2003) by Elizabeth Croad, and Gareth Wilson’s Beatitudes (2005).
    Following a joint concert in Ferrara on 20th April 2008 the Coro Polifonico "Santo Spirito" are now coming to London to sing with Incagliati. This concert will be a choral spectacular! Following fantastic reviews in the Ferrara press the two superb choirs will sing music such as Vaughan Williams "Mass in G Minor", Byrd "Ave Verum Corpus" and Carrissimi "Jephte".

  12. Posted by Lionel Chatard on 01 Sep 2007 14:50

    Should think of adding Holy Trinity Sloane Street to the list. There is quite an amazing series of concerts happening at their annual Schubert Festival this month.

  13. Posted by Johno on 04 Jun 2007 10:15

    Correction: The Brompton Oratory SERVICE with full choir is 11 AM on Sundays, NOT 9 AM as stated in the Time Out comment.

  14. Posted by ipreio on 17 May 2006 10:27

    the hardest thing to do is not hum when they're singing a popular number.

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