TRADITIONAL tunes played on original instruments will provide an early Christmas treat.

Musical duo the Night Watch will perform at the Artrix in Bromsgrove on Saturday, November 21.

The pair — made up of Ian Pittaway and Andy Casserley — play music from the 13th to the 18th centuries on original instruments. Between only two of them they play an array of medieval, renaissance and baroque instruments, including recorders, lutes, shawms, rebec, crumhorn, cittern, pipe and tabor, renaissance and baroque guitars, bagpipes, cornamuse, mandore, orpharion, gemshorn, bandora and bray harp.

Ian said: "There is some guesswork involved, but we also have lots of historical clues and think we can get pretty close to the original sound.

“Above all, we set out to entertain, as that is what music is for.”

This winter they’ll entertain with a new show for arts centres, libraries and historical buildings.

'Singing The Seasons – a year in early music' is a journey through the year, illustrating the four seasons and Christmas with music.

“For example," Andy said, “we’ll sing the very earliest song in the English language, Miri it is, from 1225. It’s about winter and, of course, it’s complaining about the weather.”

“And from 1706 we have In the Fields in Frost and Snow, a lively song with a great chorus including animal noises — it’s clearly the earliest version of Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”

Named after a piece by Anthony Holborne, who lived between 1584 and 1602, the name of the duo refers to one of the duties of the city waits. The waits were bands of musicians who kept night watch on the city gate, and also played music on official occasions, and awoke townsfolk on winter mornings by playing under their windows.

Previous projects by The Night Watch have garnered both national and local praise for all aspects of their performance.

The show starts at 8pm and tickets cost £9.

To book tickets visit www.artrix.co.uk.