Winchester Cathedral has been chosen as the perfect atmospheric setting for a candlelit performance of J S Bach's sacred cantatas on the 250th anniversary of his death later this month.

Conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists will be performing four of the cantatas at the cathedral on Sunday, November 26.

The performance, which promises to be a must-see event for lovers of classical music, is being staged as part of The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, a massive international tour which started in Weimar, Germany, last Christmas and will finish in New York in December.

Bach began composing his cantatas - one for every Sunday and feast-day in the church calendar - in Leipzig in 1723. Although about a third of them have been lost to posterity, the surviving 200 are considered among the great glories of European music - even though only a handful of them are still played today.

The Monteverdi Choir is one of the UK's most prestigious choirs and has done much to revive interest in early European music. The English Baroque Soloists started life in 1978 and feature many of Europe's finest early music instrumentalists.

Only a few tickets, priced £10, are left for the performance, which starts at 7.30pm. Call the Music at Winchester box office on 01962 733893.