Think 18th-century organ music and the chances are you think Bach, Buxtehude and a host of other north Germanic composers who produced preludes, fugues and chorale-based works by the thousand. But at the same time in England there was an equally distinctive and productive body of organ music being produced by composers who were even more highly respected and admired by their contemporaries than their European counterparts. For while the Germans were writing for the church, the English were writing, as the title of this CD implies, for the court and secular society as well as for the church.

One of the reasons why 18th-century English organ music seems to have fallen down the cracks in the pavement of history is that the organs for which it was written have largely disappeared. While every organ builder has, for decades, seemed intent on building instruments imitative of the north German instruments, few have bothered to resurrect English organs of the 18th century. Thomas Trotter has taken full advantage of the reconstruction of the 1735 Richard Bridge organ of Christ Church, Spitalfields in London – the largest organ in England at the time – to give us this scintillating taster of the London organ scene of the period.

The 2015 reconstruction work included the addition of a pedalboard – not part of its original features – and Trotter makes use of this in his flamboyantly made and played transcriptions of concertos by Handel and JC Bach. Beyond the concerto transcriptions, Trotter presents a fine selection of authentic 18th-century English organ works sounding very much as they were originally intended to sound, complete with the typical solo stops of the day – French Horn, Cornet, Flute, Trumpet – the enchanting echo effects and the wonderfully silvery diapasons. The wealth of delightful melodies and the infectious dance-flavoured rhythms are all brought across with Trotter’s hallmark flair and panache, and, as ever, his ability to communicate real enthusiasm for the music makes this a hugely attractive recording.

This, coupled with an impeccable sense of style and a fine recording which makes no attempt to disguise the spacious acoustic of the church itself, should appeal to an audience who may not necessarily be aware that this period in English music history is every bit as musically valuable as Buxtehude, Bach et al.