<img src='' title='Event Category: Concerts' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: Concerts

Hilary Cronin (soprano) and Richard Saxel (piano)

Hilary Cronin and Richard Saxel offer a deeply reflective and lyrical journey with songs that meditate on nature, solitude, and transcendence.

Opening with Copland’s Nature, the gentlest Mother, a tender setting of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, followed by Debussy’s luminous Beau Soir, evoking the beauty of an evening scene. Barber’s The Desire for Hermitage captures an intimate yearning for solitude, leading into Mahler’s Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, a poignant ode to withdrawal from the world. At the heart of the programme are Strauss’s Four Last Songs, a sublime farewell to life, filled with radiant beauty and profound peace.

 

Handel Water Music by Candlelight

Step into the elegance of the Baroque era with a programme centred around Handel’s magnificent Water Music Suites – vibrant works originally composed to accompany royal festivities on the River Thames. These sparkling orchestral pieces capture the spirit of celebration and grandeur.

Complementing Handel’s triumphs are Purcell’s regal Rondeau and expressive Chacony in G minor, Bach’s serene and uplifting Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, and the timeless beauty of Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue.

 

Handel Water Music by Candlelight

Step into the elegance of the Baroque era with a programme centred around Handel’s magnificent Water Music suites – vibrant works originally composed to accompany royal festivities on the River Thames.

These sparkling orchestral pieces capture the spirit of celebration and grandeur. Complementing Handel’s triumphs are Purcell’s regal Rondeau and expressive Chacony in G minor, Bach’s serene and uplifting Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, and the timeless beauty of Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue.

 

Handel Messiah by Candlelight

Join St Martin’s Voices and St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble for an Easter Monday performance of Handel’s Messiah. This abridged performance of Handel’s timeless masterpiece features some of the famous choruses and arias.

Georgi Dimitrov (guitar)

This programme traces a distinctive English lineage for the guitar beginning with two Fancies by John Dowland and Daniel Bacheler’s Mounsier’s Almaine, examples of the refined melancholy and intricate counterpoint of the Elizabethan lute tradition. That spirit of clarity and poise echoes through the 20th century in works by Lennox Berkeley, where neoclassical balance meets expressive warmth. Together, these pieces form a dialogue between old and new—between the English Renaissance and its 20th-century reinvention.

 

Foyle-Štšura Duo (violin and piano)

Opening the concert is the only full work Mozart ever wrote in E minor. Written upon hearing the news of his mother’s death, the tragic nature is transformed in a section in the second movement that Albert Einstein described as ‘a vision of paradise’.

Faure’s Berceuse is a true gem from early in his career and, due to its immediate success, helped him to find his first publisher. A typically epic (yet rarely heard) work of Busoni concludes the concert. The practice of arranging and transcribing other composers’ music was an integral part of his creative process, and this Sonata constructs variations on a theme of Bach’s choral ‘Wie wohl ist mir’. Busoni viewed this magnificent composition as his ‘true opus one’.

 

Fireworks Music by Candlelight

Join St Martin’s Voices and St Martin’s Chamber Orchestra for a spectacular evening celebrating the music of Haydn and Handel, two giants of the 18th century.

The programme features Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, a magnificent work full of grandeur and drama, originally composed for a royal celebration in London. This will be paired with Haydn’s Nelson Mass, one of his most powerful and dramatic sacred works, combining choral majesty with expressive intensity.

 

Felix Gygli (baritone) and Jong Sun Woo (piano)

Join us for a recital of German Lieder, tracing the fragile thread of the human experience of love, loss, and longing.

Schumann’s Tragödie and Five Lieder Op. 40 songs reveal intimate dramas—fleeting tenderness, dreamlike innocence, and the stark shadows of betrayal and fate. Korngold’s 6 Einfache Lieder then open a palette of cinematic warmth, where whispered letters, wandering nights, and quiet heroism unfold. Finally, Zemlinsky’s Op. 8 songs rise with striking intensity—vigils, lamentations, and the stern song of the watchtower.

Family Classics

Our family classics concerts offer the chance for children and adults of all ages to come together in a short one hour programme of popular classical music, including a few favourites for you to join in with! Including music from Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals and Bizet’s Carmen.

Ex Cathedra: Rachmaninov Vespers

Immerse yourself in the profound beauty of Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil – better known as the Vespers – performed by the internationally acclaimed choir Ex Cathedra.

Composed in 1915 at the height of Rachmaninov’s powers, this masterpiece of unaccompanied choral writing is a radiant tapestry of ancient Russian chant and lush Romantic harmony. From its hushed opening prayer to its triumphant final blessing, the work moves with deep spiritual intensity and overwhelming emotional sweep.

Under the direction of Jeffrey Skidmore, Ex Cathedra—celebrated for its purity of tone, warmth of expression, and exceptional clarity—brings a rare sensitivity to this deeply moving music. Expect moments of ethereal stillness, thrilling power, and a sound world that seems to touch the infinite.