Michael Flanders and Donald Swann in 1966

YOU have to be of a certain age to remember Flanders & Swann: their ultra-sophisticated cabaret shows flourished until 1967 when Donald Swann decided it was all too frivolous and devoted the rest of his life to writing religious operas – which weren’t nearly so good, though it was difficult to tell him so. As a very young critic I used to go round to Donald’s flat in Battersea where he’d play through them at the piano, singing all the parts himself. The hours passed slowly.

But those cabaret songs were another matter. They had lasting greatness, which is why you hear them still (The Gas Man Cometh, The Gnu, The Slow Train…) done by Flanders & Swann tribute acts. And there’s an example on July 8 when the Highgate Village concert series Salon Music hosts an F&S night with former Tory MP Michael Mates, who turned to cabaret after politics. A precedent perhaps for many of his colleagues given what’s been happening this week in Westminster. Salonmusic.co.uk

• There was a time when the Spitalfields Festival took place in the great Hawksmoor pile that is Christ Church Spitalfields near Liverpool Street station. These days it seems to happen anywhere but, with events spread across the eastern fringes of the City and beyond. But never mind: it’s an excuse to venture out into some interesting buildings – which include another Hawksmoor church, St Anne’s Limehouse, where the Academy of St Martin’s play English string music, July 6, and the Tower of London where the choir of the Chapels Royal sing Tudor music, Jul 10. Details: spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk

• There’s no escape from seasonal festivity just now, with the Islington Festival opening at St Mary’s Upper Street, July 5 (a concert of Czech chamber music) and July 6 (Verdi opera duets): Islingtonfestival.com Meanwhile, the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival continues Jul 5 with the edgy ensemble Mad Song programming Purcell alongside new works by Anna Clyne and others. Hbcmf.co.uk

• Quite separately, Islington Choral Society sing Karl Jenkins’ irrepressibly popular Armed Man at LSO St Luke’s, July 6: islingtonchoralsoceity.co.uk And on the same day, Highgate Choral Society sing liturgical works by Mozart at the handsome space that is All Hallows, Gospel Oak. hcschoir.com

• If you ever doubted that musical talent runs in dynasties, consider the concert at Wigmore Hall, July 5, featuring star violinist Viktoria Mullova with bass-player Misha Mullov-Abbado – who happens to be the son she had with conductor Claudio Abbado. They often play together, a family double-act. Here they programme Bach alongside Brazilian dance music. Wigmore-hall.org.uk

• I went last weekend to the Thaxted Festival in Essex and had such a good time that I wholeheartedly recommend the rest of its season to anyone seeking an easy day out from London. Thaxted Church, where the concerts happen, is magnificent. And as composer Gustav Holst was once its resident organist, much of this year’s festival is celebrating his 150th anniversary – with a rare performance of his First Choral Symphony on July 7; music inspired by The Planets, Jul 5; and other English works like Purcell’s Fairy Queen, July 6. Runs to July 14. Thaxtedfestival.co.uk