A feast of colourful and joyful Christmas music from around Baroque Europe, with carols, motets, and instrumental music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Michael Praetorius, Heinrich Biber, Henry Purcell, Georg Philipp Telemann and others. Highlights will be a delightful miniature Christmas oratorio by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, the fine cantata ‘Es ist ein Kind geboren’, once thought to be by J.S. Bach, and Handel’s virtuosic setting of the Gloria.

Peter Holman’s vivid performances of Baroque music have delighted audiences at SVF and further afield for many years. In this concert he directs two of our resident ensembles, with contributions from a choir of children from local schools and a viol consort from Ipswich High School as part of our educational outreach programme.