Quite a lot, as it turns out. For those 19th-century guitarists who sometimes moved in the same circles as the above composers, the novels of Walter Scott, the poems of Robbie Burns and indeed all things Scottish were an equal source of inspiration. Mauro Giuliani, Luigi Legnani, Johann Kaspar Mertz and the great Fernando Sor all arranged Scottish songs and dances or wrote sets of variations on Scottish themes. And far from feeling disadvantaged by the modest means of expression at their disposal when compared with a piano or a symphony orchestra, they relished their instrument’s ability to portray the bittersweet qualities of Scottish melodies while realising the music’s potential for metamorphosis and subtle drama.

Scottish lutenist and guitarist James Akers, who here plays three original or copies of Romantic period guitars, is an experienced continuo player in both orchestral and operatic contexts. It could therefore be said that this music is his not only by birthright but by dint of his ability to bring the lyrical, cantabile and colouristic aspects of, say, Baroque opera, to the table when performing such music.

And so it comes to pass, with Akers imbuing, for example, the insouciant virtuosity of Legnani’sVariations on Rossini’s ‘Oh quante lagrime’, the wistful beauty of Giuliani’s Coming through the rye and the melancholic theatre of Mertz’s Fingal’s Cave with all the warmth, colour and expressive richness one could hope for.