William Croft's Violin Sonatas were published in 1700 by John Walsh. They are highly enjoyable works, despite being some of the earliest examples of English sonatas for solo violin.

A very popular figure of whom everyone spoke well, William Boyce's Eight Symphonies were published by Walsh in London in 1760 and were titled as: "Eight Symphonies in eight parts. Six for Violins, French Horns and Trumpets, with a bass for the Violoncello and Harpsichord. Opera Seconda." The words "opera seconda" suggest that these works had been in existence for some considerable time before their publication probably in manuscript form. During the 1740s Boyce became involved with the theater. He abandoned the theater in 1760, the year in which his Eight Symphonies were published. The link between these two facets of his life can be found in the Symphonies themselves, the movements of which are drawn largely from opera overtures and incidental music. These light and varied works were clearly intended for entertainment in the popular London pleasure gardens of Vauxhall and Ranelagh, as well as for performance by the many musical societies which had grown up during the middle years of eighteenth century London.

The Trio Sonatas also on this disc were published in 1747 as "Twelve Sonatas for two Violins; with a bass for the Violoncello or Harpsichord" – and they were an immediate success. Burney tells us that they were: "longer and more generally purchased, performed, and admired, than any productions of the kind in this kingdom, except those of Corelli. They were not only in constant use, as chamber Music, in private concerts, for which they were originally designed, but in our theatres, as act-tunes, and our gardens, as favourite pieces, during many years." Published by subscription, they were immediately sold out, and reprinted several times thereafter.