City Churches Find New Life Through Music

last Christmas, the queue to enter the City of London’s oldest surviving parish church for a concert of medieval carols nearly reached the nearby Fabric nightclub. But the kind of drum and bass that patrons of st Bartholomew the Great prefer is the tabor and vielle.

This year, the huge appeal of listening to early music within its 900-year-old walls convinced the church’s rector Marcus Walker to put on two medieval carol services in the same night. I squeezed into one of the last seats at the 9pm sitting and was transported back in time.

Hundreds of us sat in silence, mouths agape, as we listened to the rare, expressive beauty of music from over seven centuries ago reverberate around its candlelit Norman interior.A welcome moment of stillness and peace amid the clamour and commerce of christmas, it also shows how music – both sacred and secular – is helping the City’s 40 or so historic places of worship keep their doors open as funding pressures mount.

Customary carol services have always been popular, but forward-thinking rectors recognize that offering sublime music in a divine historical setting will keep the crowds coming back throughout the year. most City churches have excellent acoustics and an intimate performance space where there is no stage separating audience and musicians. Many churches find thay can attract new and wider audiences with lunchtime recitals, evening concerts and informal musical events, building deeper relationships with the wider City community and generating much-needed donations.

For time-pressed financial workers in the Square Mile, there is a further advantage. Not only are the venues likely to be a short step away from the office, but the vast majority of events are ticketless with a retiring collection – welcome flexibility for those who find they are tied to their desks. Yet the calibre of performance is extremely high.

The free lunchtime recitals at St Olave’s, for example, feature some of the finest musicians in the country.The church’s organist, Jonathan Hope, is a former organ scholar of St John’s College, Cambridge, and regularly invites friends to perform.

The City churches are not just preserving their own futures, they are also enriching the lives of those who work in and visit the Square Mile. They offer a respite from the relentless pace of modern life and a chance to connect with something timeless and stunning.