Vivaldi Four Seasons by candlelight

Vivaldi's Four Seasons comes to St Martin-in-the-Fields on Friday 6 November, part of the church's Candlelight Concerts series. It's a run that goes well beyond a single night: there's another on Saturday 14 November, one on Sunday 27 December, and further dates in January, February and March 2027, all starting at 7pm.

The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's most famous work, and it's a piece that works as well as a standalone as it does in a series. It was shaped by accompanying poems, possibly written by Vivaldi himself, and inspired by the seasonal landscapes of the painter Marco Ricci: birdsong, buzzing flies, harvest celebrations, drunken revellers, barking dogs, summer storms and winter ice. Hearing it played by candlelight in a church brings those images to the front of the music.

Because this is a run rather than a one-off, the line-up changes from night to night. Violinist Miki Takahashi leads the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of London on some dates; St Martin's Chamber Ensemble performs with violinist Hilaryjane Parker on others; and Trafalgar Sinfonia, conducted by Ivor Setterfield, takes the stand with the Belmont Ensemble. Depending on when you go, you'll hear a different ensemble bring the same four concertos to life.

The concerts sit within the church's Candlelight Concerts, a series performed by candlelight that pairs popular and lesser-known works by some of the world's best composers. It's also part of St Martin-in-the-Fields' 300th-anniversary season, which celebrates three centuries of musical heritage by bringing back resident ensembles like the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields alongside a wide roster of London performers. The venue itself is a historic Georgian church in Trafalgar Square, completed in 1726 by James Gibbs, whose neoclassical architecture and renowned acoustics have made it a home for classical, jazz and contemporary music. Tickets start from £16, with seating across bands A to E; all performances begin at 7pm.