John Tavener at Temple Church

Sir John Tavener with conductor Stephen Layton

The Temple Church has a strong association with the music of Sir John Tavener, the church commissioned Tavener's The Veil of the Temple, the extraordinary all-night vigil which was performed in the church without pause between dawn and dusk by  150 performers including the Temple Church Choir and the Holst Singers, conducted by Stephen Layton, in 2002 (the same performers would also give the work at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in 2004, and in a shortened version at the BBC Proms).

On Wednesday 23 January 2019, at 5.30pm, the Temple Church is holding an Evensong dedicated to Sir John Tavener's memory with The Temple Singers performing Tavener's music including ' Mother of God' from The Veil of the Temple, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (commissioned by Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and first performed in King's College Chapel onin 1987) and Song for Athene.