With Corelli, Geminiani and Handel by far the most popular composers of string concertos in eighteenth-century England, few natives troubled themselves to compose in the genre. Boyce, Arne and Greene virtually ignored it; but Avison, up in Newcastle, wrote a good number of concertos and John Stanley, the admired London organist who lost his sight in infancy, contributed this set of six, published in 1742. They are of course Handelian (you may note echoes of both the Op. 3 and the Op. 6 Concerti grossi and the Op. 4 Organ Concertos), and certainly Corellian too: but there is a distinctly English stamp to them, in the solemn, often faintly melancholy slow movements, the spirited fugues and the lively concluding dances, and in their relative brevity – English composers were never long-winded. Highlights, as far as I am concerned, are No. 2, with its doleful suspensions in the opening Largo; the fugue of No. 3, on a theme that suggests a peal of bells; and in No. 6 the harmonically rich opening. Stanley’s fugues, although on quite conventional subjects and rather traditionally worked out, are entertaining; most have lots of double counterpoint and an ingenious stretto formally presented near the end. There are bold ideas in the fugue of No. 4, and a curious stop-and-start fugue in No. 6. The finales, including minuets, a gavotte and a rather sturdily anglicized bourree, are sometimes quirky in a characteristically English way.
This record presents vigorous and sonorous performances, brightly recorded. Simon Standage, who directs, has a good feeling for a natural tempo and he is also on excellent form as solo violinist (try the minuet finale of No. 1, the delightful third movement of No. 2 or the fugue and the third movement of No. 5); and the cello solo (very Handel-influenced) in No. 2 is capably played by Jane Coe. The orchestral playing is admirable, with lively rhythms, sure ensemble and sweet-sounding chording. This version comfortably surpasses the only previous one (by The Parley of Instruments on Hyperion, 3/90) and can be warmly recommended.'