When Caroline Brown formed The Hanover Band in March 1980 she never imagined it would still be selling out concerts 35 years later.

But by honouring its aim to recreate the sounds made when early classical composers originally wrote their works, the band continues to flourish.

“It’s been extraordinary,” she says, talking about the lengthy journey which she admits has had its ups and downs.

The latest project for the Arundel-based ensemble is a series of concerts to raise money for the restoration of St Margaret’s Church in Rottingdean.

An opening programme in June featured works written by Henry Purcell in the late 17th century with orchestral suites from The Fairy-Queen and Vivaldi.

The second concert in the three-event series is on July 5. It will concentrate on Handel and Bach.

“It’s popular Handel programme,” explains Brown.

“We will be playing works such as Handel’s The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba and we will accompany young singers from The Royal College of Music in Handel’s heroic arias form famous operas like Xerxes and The Messiah.”

The Hanover Band has joined up with Fondation La Joie des Arts for the concerts.

“What they want to do is to work with us to support emerging to support young artists under 25, so I have asked two singers to come from Royal College of Music - Nick Pritchard, a tenor, and Tim Morgan, a counter tenor – and we the band are going to accompany these two young singers in these Handel arias.”

A third concert, on September 27, will concentrate on Mozart.

“In that concert we are doing the Mozart Horn Concerto Number 4, performed by natural horn player Pip Eastop.

“We are doing Mozart’s Symphony Number 29 in A and then numerous operatic arias from The Marriage of Figaro, from Zaide, with two more young singers coming from the Royal College of Music.”

“They are excellent examples of Mozart’s talents and greatness.”

The band originally concentrated on music from the Hanover period from 1714 to 1830, but it has extended its reach to take in earlier composers such as Henry Purcell and later composers such as Gilbert and Sullivan.

The name remains constant. As does the ensemble’s dedication to recreating how music used to sound to the ears of its composers (and their intentions) rather than being mediated by later recording devices or others who rescored the music.

The Hanover Band draws on historical evidence from literary sources, archives, treatises, autographs, early editions and iconography.

Its research into musical style informs its approach to national idioms, articulation, melodic inflection, accentuation, tempo, ornamentation, embellishment and improvisation.

“The violin has not changed. The fittings are the thing that has changed from when it was first made.

“It has had various fittings on it, which are appropriate for the period – for example when playing Bach and Handel, we are playing on instrument set up for that period in as much the bridge is low, fingerboard is short, the base bar is thinner “We would look to how instruments were set up or made at that time, and we have had makers make copies of original instruments so they replicate exactly we hope historically as we go along. Over my career, I have had a rather large amount of cellos.

“I’ve had what we call a baroque cello to play Bach and Handel.

“Also had a cello from about 1760 to play early classical music such as Mozart, Haydn, another one to play late Beethoven in 1820 and a later one to play Dvorak, which is my modern cello.”

The Hanover Band, St Margaret’s Church, Rottingdean, Saturday, July 5 and Saturday, September 27, 7.30pm, £12. Log onto www.chichester tickets.co.uk or call 01243 813595