Picture the scene; mid-morning, on any ordinary weekday, at the Temple Church in London, time for Brian, the verger, to open the church for visitors. As usual, there are several people waiting outside and you can guarantee that at least one will be carrying a copy of The Da Vinci Code.

Brian already knows what they will ask, “Where are the knights’ effigies?” “Where is the knight’s tomb lacking an orb?” and most eagerly of all they will ask, “Have you read the book?” Brian still insists on believing, or pretending to believe, that they are asking about the Bible.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last three years you will no doubt be aware of Dan Brown’s international best seller “The Da Vinci Code”.

One of the many side effects of this literary phenomenon has been an explosion of “Da Vinci Code” sight seeing tours with so many prominent European monuments and attractions cited in the books pages.

This trend is only set to grow with the release, on 19th May, of the feature film, starring Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon and Audrey Tautou as cryptologist Sophie Neveu, leading to very busy summer for all involved.

What may not be so well known about the Temple Church is that along with the Da Vinci Code connection, it is also world famous for its music and choral recitals. The Choir of the Temple Church has in recent years been on tour to Brazil and has featured regularly in BBC concerts and services broadcast from the church.

In 2000 the choristers appeared in the BBC production of Gormenghast, while other concert appearances have included Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand at the Royal Albert Hall, the Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Festival Hall and for the Millennium Thomas Adès wrote January Writ for the choir.

More recently “The All-Night Vigil” was commissioned by the Temple Music Trust for performance by the Choir of the Temple Church with the Holst Singers, with the first performance overnight on 27th – 28th June 2003.

A concert length version called “The Veil of the Temple”, was then created from this and was first performed at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, 1st August 2004.

What's better, with the support of The Temple Music Foundation (a charitable organisation backed by the Onassis family) Temple Music Church plans to become as famous as the movie, planning to become a central 'hub' for all musical activity associated with the Temple Church, the choral recitals, events and the many people involved with the projects and the community.

 

 

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