Candlelit Polyphony

Candlelit Polyphony is our simplest idea and our most loved: a single ninety-minute span of slow Renaissance music, played without interval in a church lit only by candles. No applause between pieces, no talking from the stage — the music does the talking.

Programmes change each season but keep the same arc, from penitential motets through to radiant final Amens.

Doors open half an hour before the music begins. Seats are unreserved and the audience is asked to arrive in good time; once the candles are lit, latecomers wait for a pause in the music.

After the final chord the quartet stays for conversation over something warm. Many regulars tell us it is the quietest ninety minutes of their year.