The Dark Lady and the Tender Churl

Starring Tobias Menzies performing Shakespeare Sonnets The Fourth Choir is planning our biggest concert yet - a Memorial concert to William Shakespeare on the April 23, which is the actual day of the 400th anniversary of his death, in London's historic Middle Temple Hall. The Hall is the only building which survives in which Shakespeare himself performed and we have booked it on the night of the 400th anniversary itself. This tribute to Shakespeare focuses on the tortured love triangle portrayed in the Sonnets between Shakespeare, the Dark Lady and the handsome younger man referred to as the Tender Churl. Choral music from Shakespeare’s own time down to the present day will be intermingled with a dramatic performance of some of the most famous Sonnets. A highlight of the concert will be four world premières - the winning entries of a competition we launched for a new choral settings of the Sonnets, selected out of 96 entries from 17 countries.