In 1772 John Addison brought out in Edinburgh a volume containing six duets in the form of three- or four-movement sonatas for two unaccompanied violins, his only works to survive. Such duets were highly popular throughout the eighteenth century as music for domestic recreation and teaching purposes. Addison’s sonatas are varied and enterprising, including two fugal and two canonic movements but not neglecting a more lyrical vein.

They are deliberately cosmopolitan in style, looking back to C...