Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - St. Martin's in the Fields

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St. Martin's in the Fields

I am not having any luck finding information on the choral concerts in St. Martin's, which I have heard are beautiful. Does anyone know how I can find a schedule for the concerts, and how far in advance does one need to get tickets? Thanks!

You'll find the St Martin's concerts and concerts in other London churches in a weekly listings magazine called "Time Out". You can buy this in the news stand in the arivals hall of your airport (or at Waterloo station) and read it on the train towards central London. Apart from Wednesday evensong, music at St Martin's in summer is chiefly orchestral, not choral. Their small lunchtime recitals keep a high standard. The standards of the evening concerts are to be doubted. They are designed for tourists, the players are scratch groups of players who gather together on nights they are otherwise free, the music is repetetively Four Seasons, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Bach violin concertos, and the candlelight strikes me as a gimmick: music is to be heard, not looked at. So may I ask you to look in the same magazine at other church events ? St James Piccaddilly is ten minutes by bus west of St Martin's, and has good players. If there's music at the American Lutheran church of St Anne and St Agnes, just noth of St Paul's Cathedral, it is good: they have a resident Baroque quartet, and a typically American friendly greeting for strangers. St John's Smith Square, ten minutes south of Trafalgar Square by bus, is good, but in fact is a concert hall, no more a church, and is inactoive in summer. And of course for the next two months the Proms in the Roal Albert Hall in Kensington present remarkable music nght after night. Now that I'd call beautiful. The more so given the audience, young, informal, educated, enthusiastic. There are small vocal recitals, such as soporano and piano, in summer, but great pieces are rare (choir members are often away on family holidays). Looking at this week, I see them at the Proms and in a couple of country churches reachable from London by train. You do not pre-book for concerts in city churches -- at St Martin's touts on nearby streets press handbills upon you. In City churches you cannot pre-book. For concerts in halls you can book by phone with a credit card. There's a similar pattern of low-grade and picturesque concerts for tourists in Vienna, where in summer they play and sing the same Mozart pieces nightly for a month on end, in costume, at high prices, in fine buildings. Please write if I can help further. If you do so could ou say when you're in town ? Ben Haines, London

Ben- Is it only during the summer that the evening concerts at St. Martin's are of questionable quality? We saw a wonderful evening candlelight concert there in May a couple of years ago - the Elgar cello concerto and the Mozart Requiem. I'm a professional musician, so my expectations can be high, and one thing we really liked about St. Martin's is that we were able to hear something other than the ubiquitous Four Seasons and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Should we avoid summer in London if we want to hear good concerts?

Ben: I will be in London in October, if this makes a difference as to the quality of St. Martin's. I am disappointed to hear that it is touristy and not a good concert. I have looked through the Time Out website and didn't have any luck finding the concert schedules. Have you ever looked there? Maybe I am just looking in the wrong place. I suppose I can wait until I get to London for a schedule, but I am just super anal and like to have everything planned out as best as possible. Thanks for all your information!

While waiting for Ben to reply with the definitive answer, I'll toss in my 2 cents worth. I have never travelled to London in the summer, but my experience in the Spring and Fall has been that the St Martin's concerts are light weight, as he described. The first thing I do in London, after checking in, is to go to St James Piccadilly to pick up their monthly concert listings. Both their free (donation) lunch hour concerts and their evening concerts, which have a fee, provide much more interesting musical experiences.

Far from definitive, I was not even clear. The Time Out I had in mind is the printed magazine, published each Wednesday. The web site is a wan reflection: the magazine is 150 pages long, and costs two or three pounds. Pre-planners will find London ill-furnished. For Paris you can read all of Pariscope online, and for Berlin he Berlin Tips -- but even there, only week by week ahead. I'd certainly not book any church concert before arrival and sight of Time Out. Royal Festival Hall, yes. Far from definitive, I'm wrong: I was thinking of the wrong St John's. That at Smith Square is in fact active this week, with no less han three choral concerts. Yes: it is chiefly in summer that quality drops at St Martins. I think the criteria are -- are they playing by candlelight -- are they playing Four Seasons, Eine Kleine, or Bach Violin If so, as at present advised, I'd say omit it. But if the well-played Elgar cello concerto was by candlelight I'll change my line: could Cheryl please tell us all ? As to the general question, concerts are far fewer in summer than in other seasons, but so long as you can book into the Proms (not always possible) you can hear a great concert every night of the week. I shall read this correspondence with interest, and am grateful for your useful prompts. It please me a good deal that my city can please interested and informed guests. Ben Haines

Far from definitive, I was not even clear. The Time Out I had in mind is the printed magazine, published each Wednesday. The web site is a wan reflection: the magazine is 150 pages long, and costs two or three pounds. Pre-planners will find London ill-furnished. For Paris you can read all of Pariscope online, and for Berlin he Berlin Tips -- but even there, only week by week ahead. I'd certainly not book any church concert before arrival and sight of Time Out. Royal Festival Hall, yes. Far from definitive, I'm wrong: I was thinking of the wrong St John's. That at Smith Square is in fact active this week, with no less han three choral concerts. Yes: it is chiefly in summer that quality drops at St Martins. I think the criteria are -- are they playing by candlelight -- are they playing Four Seasons, Eine Kleine, or Bach Violin If so, as at present advised, I'd say omit it. But if the well-played Elgar cello concerto was by candlelight I'll change my line: could Cheryl please tell us all ? As to the general question, concerts are far fewer in summer than in other seasons, but so long as you can book into the Proms (not always possible) you can hear a great concert every night of the week. I shall read this correspondence with interest, and am grateful for your useful prompts. It pleases me a good deal that my city can satisfy interested and informed guests. Ben Haines

Ben- The Elgar/Mozart Requiem concert that I saw was indeed by candlelight. I assumed that this was just standard procedure for an evening concert in the church. However, this was two years ago, and it is possible that the quality of evening performances in the non-tourist season has gone downhill since then. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the orchestra and chorus that we heard, but for the price (I think we paid 6 pounds for obstructed view seats) it was a very good concert. And you have to admit that the Elgar isn't the kind of piece you usually see at a concert geared for tourists. In general, my criteria for concerts is similar to yours. Avoid any concert which includes Four Seasons, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, or the Vivaldi Gloria. Normally I would also avoid candlelit concerts (especially as there is usually some crossover with the pieces I avoid), but if the music is interesing enough, I'll waive my rule about candlelight. I also will not go to a concert when travelling that costs more for "no-name" performers than I would pay at home to see a "big-name". I find that this is another good rule for avoiding tourist rip-offs. I am constantly amazed that people will pay $50 to hear a pick-up orchestra in period costume play the Four Seasons in Venice, but won't pay half of that to hear a great performance at home.

here is the website: http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/ Apropos the discussion of the range and depth of the concerts here, betweeen now and the end of November, there will be eleven "4 seasons by candlelight", 4 Brandenburg concertos by candlelight and 6 eine kleine nachtmusics by candlelight, as well as few other Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi.

Hi all, Went to the St. Martin's web site and printed out their schedule. I was curious about the Free concerts there. The web site does not mention the particulars, but is it a first come type of event? Sounds wonderful, however. My ideal would lunch there and then a choral concert there. Ben? Thanks, Judy :-)

Fodors Yes, the free concerts are first come first served. They tend to good quality. They're only free if you've a heart of stone: people stand with collection plates as you leave. I wouldn't lunch in the church crypt, but at Gordon's Wine Bar at the foot of Villiers Street, near Embankment underground station. Equal quality of music at lunchtime is found in St James Piccadilly and St Anne and St Agnes, north of St Paul's Cathedral. Time Out and What's On magazines list all three. Please write if I can help further. Ben Haines