Probably written between 1718 and 1723, the four violin concertos which make up The Four Seasons are an early example of programme music – music, that is, which references extra-musical elements. In this case the programme is very clear, as Vivaldi’s score includes the text of four sonnets, possibly his own work, which describe the features of the four seasons which the music describes – down to the details of barking dogs, buzzing flies, birdsong, drunken dancers, frozen landscapes and winter fires. Vivaldi’s most popular work, it has been recorded, arranged and reinterpreted thousands of times.

Purcell’s Chacony in G minor dates from about 40 years earlier in 1680 and was originally written for the theatre after the restoration of Charles II. A set of variations written over four descending notes of the minor scale, it achieves great emotional depth and was arranged for string quartet by Benjamin Britten, an ardent admirer of Purcell’s music.

Tonight’s concert is led by violinist Jonathan Truscott.

Standing on a mound which rises from the village green (the ‘Tye’), St. Andrew’s Alfriston is a superb and spacious church dating entirely from the 14th century with almost no later additions. Known as ‘the cathedral of the Downs’, it is built, unusually, in the shape of a Greek cross, with four equal arms and a central tower which houses six bells, still used by an enthusiastic group of bellringers.