Parley of Instruments/Peter Holman Hyperion Dyad CDD 22063 (2 CDs for the price of one) *****

The music of William Boyce (1711-79) has been affected by the shadow cast by the giant musical figure of Handel on music in 18th-century England. His brief symphonies are still played (and much favoured by amateur orchestras) and organists still enjoy his voluntaries.

His 12 Trio Sonatas of 1747 are less frequently heard. Some of the models are quite clear – Handel, Purcell, Corelli – but the music has enough character of its own to sound as well when it’s only like itself as when it’s Handelian. The Parley of Instruments made their infectiously appealing recording in the mid-1990s, adding three extra sonatas from a manuscript in the Fitzwilliam Museum. For around half of the pieces they resurrected an 18th-century practice that turns trio sonatas from chamber music into orchestral music as concerti grossi. See hyperion-records.co.uk