This corncucopia of light piano pieces from Paul Guinery will come as no surprise to many of us who followed his appearances on BBC Radio 3’s Breakfast Show during lockdown, when he lifted our spirits during those uncertain times.

‘Finger Prints’ covers the first half of the 20th century, with a nod to the Victorians for a couple of early Thoughts (1862) by Sullivan and German’s engagingly Chopinesque Polish Dance (1891). The diversity of the compositions is little short of astonishing and is matched by some fabulous piano-playing from Guinery. Agility, dexterity, poise, elegance and a strong bass line are some of the attributes of his playing in the opening title-track, the nifty Finger Prints by Harry Engleman.

I lost count of how many times the BBC was instrumental in supporting the careers of some of the lesser-known names (Engleman, Strachey, Jack Wilson, Peggy Cochrane), who rub shoulders here with figures such as Bridge, Ireland, Sullivan and Berkeley, composers with bigger fish to fry. There are 22 numbers in all and none of them outstays its welcome. Of the more introspective ones, Guinery explores a Schumannesque inwardness in his expressive playing of the part-writing of Ireland’s Cavatina. He cradles Bridge’s unassuming Berceuse and goes to the heart of Mayerl’s bittersweet Shy Ballerina, noting the tone of regret in this late composition, as Mayerl’s world fades to the sound of the drum kit. This interpretation unfolds seamlessly, as does his thoughtful account of Stephen Hough’s inspired transcription of the Kashmiri Song and Haydn Wood’s Longing. A discreet employment of rubato elevates Strachey’s Anna’s Polka, to match Coward’s decree that ‘there’s nothing so beguiling as a one-two-three’.

Billy Mayerl’s name crops up once more in four transcriptions of songs by Harry Revel, a London-born contemporary of Mayerl, whom he might have known. Revel found fame and fortune at Paramount in the 1930s, composing a bevy of hit songs in collaboration with lyricist Mack Gordon. Titles such as ‘Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?’ are very much of the period, with verse and refrain cleverly woven together in dance styles of the period. I loved the music’s embrace of that doyen of dance-band pianists, the Savoy’s Carroll Gibbons. Novelty numbers such as Cecil Macklin’s Cockney Crawl, imbued with the spirit of the Old Kent Road, Quilter’s effervescent Country Dance and Peggy Cochrane’s roller-coaster ride Busy Day are played with high-octane energy. Richard Addinsell gives his own Blithe Spirit Waltz a Lisztian spin, making for a dazzling finale.

The production team (engineer Oscar Torres, producer Sarah Devonald) are mindful of this music’s provenance from the burgeoning world of film and radio, offering piano sound of crystal clarity from the venue of St John the Evangelist, Oxford. Reproductions of sheet music, images of the composers and a lively set of notes from Guinery round off this collection, recommended with all possible enthusiasm.