A merely occasional recorder player, I have never attempted entry into Dutchman Jacob van Eyck’s Flute’s Garden of Delights. As Thiemo Wind has it in the introduction to his substantial booklet-notes, “this repertoire is both loved and feared by professional recorder players today”. Thank goodness, then, for the likes of Erik Bosgraaf, who has recorded a generous selection from this masterpiece for us mortals to stroll through in relative ease and comfort.

Blind at birth, van Eyck (c1590-1657) was not only a campanologist of international renown but also a virtuoso recorder player, entertaining his fellow citizens by playing in the Janskerkhof (St John’s churchyard) in Utrecht on summer evenings. Der Fluyten Lust-hof, a collection largely comprising variations for solo recorder on popular tunes and psalm melodies, was printed in Amsterdam between 1644 and 1649, and was a great success.

Bosgraaf’s virtuosity is stunning, as is his artistry. I particularly enjoyed the variations on tunes that I was most familiar with, like Dowland’s Lachrymae Pavan and Can She Excuse, or Caccini’s Amarilli mia bella, but many new friends were made along the way, like the wonderful Wat zalmen op den Avond doen or the Sarabande. Twelve different instruments are used in order to capture the different characteristics of each piece, ranging from sopranino to tenor; in three of the tracks, Bosgraaf is sympathetically accompanied by Izhar Elias. As a reference work this set should be considered indispensable; as one to be dipped in for pleasure, highly desirable.