There is a twenty-five day window when it is acceptable to listen to Christmas music, from the start of December to the big day itself.

This week, in the middle of this period, I’ve been making the most of this with a run of festive concerts.

On Saturday, I watched the Petros Singers perform Christ’s Nativity at St Peter’s Church in West London; on Monday, I was at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho to watch virtuoso pianist Gabriel Latchin perform his I’ll Be Home For Christmas album; and on Wednesday night, by the time you read this, I’ll have enjoyed my daughter’s school carol concert at Salisbury Cathedral.

More eagle-eyed readers might have noticed a clash on Saturday between the first of these concerts and the World Cup quarter final.

I don’t know if this is a boast or an admission of guilt, but I hadn’t actually missed an England World Cup match since Diego Maradona’s handball back in 1986.

But with my girlfriend singing in the choir, I was primed to be back in the pub for extra time – or rather, I would have been, had it not been for Harry Kane’s penalty miss.

The concert itself mixed the choir pieces with the audience joining in for various Christmas hymns.

There’s an increasing amount of research out there about how collective singing helps to release feel-good endorphins into your brain.

Following England is usually quite a tense experience for me: but singing carols while Olivier Giroud slipped in between Stones and Maguire helped take the edge off.

Over at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Gabriel Latchin played some of the same carols, but repurposed them in a jazz way, alongside a number of festive favourites.

These had nods to all sorts of jazz greats from an Ahmad Jamal-inspired version of Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer to a Bill Evans style I’ll Be Home For Christmas.

Latchin also pointed out the similarity between Santa Claus is Coming To Town and Thelonious Monk’s Blue Monk, blending the two effortlessly together.

One of the delights of jazz clubs is being able to watch the musicians up close. On Monday night, we got lucky as our table was in the front row, directly behind Latchin himself.

It made for a mesmerising couple of hours watching a great pianist at work, his featherlight fingers reinterpreting tune after tune.

His album is well worth checking out if you fancy a bit of sophisticated festive fare.

The Salisbury Cathedral concert will be special as well, I’m sure. How can it not be in such a setting?

And thanks to Harry Kane’s miss, I won’t have to choose between my daughter and an England semi-final.