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XII solos for a violin

Description: This English edition of Corelli's Op. 5 sonata for violin and continuo is, aside from an engraving of the composer and the title page, printed on both the recto and verso sides of the leaves. The bass line contains figures. A note by the publisher states: "These Solos are Printed from a curious Edition Publish'd at Rome by the Author."
Date: 1740~
Creator: Corelli, Arcangelo, 1653-1713
Partner: UNT Music Library

Les Elemens

Description: This four-act ballet was premiered on 22 December 1721 at the Tullieries and, later, performed at L'Academie Royale de Musique on 29 May 1725 and 27 May 1734, and at the Theatre on 22 May 1742. Various dramatis personae present an allegorical depiction of the French court.
Date: 1742
Creator: Destouches, André Cardinal, 1672-1749
Partner: UNT Music Library

Acis and Galatea

Description: This is a ca. 1743 score of Acis and Galatea, a musical masque (also considered an English pastoral opera) by Handel to a libretto by John Gay. The performance forces include: oboes (2), flauto [recorder], violins, basso continuo, and chorus of mixed voices (mostly soprano, three tenors and bass) and vocal soloists. On the front cover the name Morgan appears imprinted on a red stamp with golden ornaments and letters. The names Anna Maria [Lawes] and Mary Anne Morgan were written at the top … more
Date: 1743
Creator: Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759
Partner: UNT Music Library

Alexander's Feast or the Power of Musick.

Description: A secular choral work in two parts for four soloists (SSTB) and mixed chorus (SATB) with orchestra acc. (2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 3 violins, viola, violoncello, and continuo). The names of the vocal soloists (Mr. [John] Beard, Signora [Anna Maria] Strada, Miss. [Cecilia] Young, and Mr. Erard) are printed at the top of their designated songs.
Date: 1743
Creator: Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759 & Dryden, John, 1631-1700
Partner: UNT Music Library

Giulio Cesare : opera in tre atti

Description: This is a [ca. 1743] score of "Giulio Cesare," an Italian opera seria in three acts by Handel. The performance forces include: flute, oboe, horns (in A and D), strings (violin, viola, violoncello, bass), continuo (theorbo and viola da gamba), harp, chorus of mixed voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), and soloist singers. A list of solo arias and duets of each act appears on p.170 followed by a list containing the names of the subscribers on pp.[171-172]. Two mythological figures [possibly, th… more
Date: 1743
Creator: Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759
Partner: UNT Music Library

Dardanus : nouvelle tragédie

Description: Dardanus went through a number of revisions from the time of its premiere in 1739 until its final eighteenth-century run at the Opéra in 1771. The version in the Virtual Rare Book Room was first performed in 1744; the last three acts exhibit extensive plot changes from the first edition. The final version in 1760 received the most positive acclaim, especially compared to the criticisms that were made about the nonsensical plot of the first version. By this point, however, the polemic between… more
Date: 1744
Creator: Rameau, Jean Philippe, 1683-1764 & La Bruère, Le Clerc de, 1714-1754
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

La favola di Orfeo

Description: Libretto of the opera "La favola di Orfeo" in several verse forms. Poliziano's version of the legend of Orfeo differs from the story in Monteverdi or Gluck's operas. In Poliziano's ending, Orpheus is torn to pieces by the maenads (or Bacchantes). This copy includes Bernardino Baldi's eclogue "Celeo e l'Orto," a culinary poem that describes the production of polenta.
Date: 1749
Creator: Poliziano, Angelo, 1454-1494. & Baldi, Bernardino, 1553-1617.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Platée : comédie-ballet

Description: Jacques Autreau’s play Platée, ou Junon jalouse was based on a story by a second-century Greek author named Pausanias who chronicled his travels (including rituals and traditions) in ten books that represent the different regions of Greece. At the time Le Valois d’Orville appropriated Autreau’s drama for a libretto, it was uncommon for French court operas to include comic features, and even Autreau’s spoken play lacked the comic tone of the opera. Yet, the humor extends beyond the plot; for i… more
Date: 1749
Creator: Rameau, Jean Philippe, 1683-1764 & Le Valois d'Orville, Adrien-Joseph
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Le piacevoli poesie

Description: This is a ca. 1750 copy of "Le piacevoli poesie di Giuseppe Baretti" (The Pleasing Poetry of Giuseppe Baretti). Although Baretti is primarily remembered for his frequent travels throughout Italy, England, France, and Portugal, which he recounted in his "Lettere familiari ai suoi tre fratelli," he was also a scholar, linguist, poet, translator, and journalist. He wrote "Le piacevoli poesie di Giuseppe Baretti" in 1750. The poetry imitated the style of Fancesco Berni, a 16th-century Italian poe… more
Date: 1750
Creator: Baretti, Giuseppe Marco Antonio, 1719-1789.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Vocal Melody Book IV

Description: This collection of songs from the pantomime "Harlequin Sorcerer" and the play "The Oracle" are scored for various voice types with obbligato instruments and basso continuo (with figured bass). A "Mrs. Cibber" is credited prominently on the title page. Some songs also have alternate parts for the solo line (conflating obbligato and vocal parts) for German flute (sometimes simply designated as "Flute").
Date: 1752
Creator: Arne, Thomas Augustine, 1710-1778
Partner: UNT Music Library

Titon Et L'Aurore

Description: This three-act opera (Monsigny's Op. 8) is dedicated to Monseigneur le Prince de Soubise and was premiered at L'Academie Royalle de Musique on 9 January 1753. This full score opens with a letter of dedication from the composer to his patron and closes with a document describing royal publishing privilege.
Date: 1753
Creator: Mondonville, Jean Joseph Cassanea de, 1711-1772
Partner: UNT Music Library

Amour au village : opera-comique, en un acte, et en vaudeviles

Description: Libretto for Charles-Simon Favart's 1754 opera L'amour au village. Charles-Simon Favart gained prominence for his parodies of extant operas during the middle of the eighteenth century. His L’amour au village (1754), a typical example of the genre, was based on Carolet’s L’amour paysan (1737). The parody technique consisted of setting new texts to existing melodies and writing new dialogue based on a familiar plot. L’amour au village includes a typical vaudeville finale. In the Virtual Rare … more
Date: 1754
Creator: Favart, M. (Charles-Simon), 1710-1792
Partner: UNT Music Library

Le trompeur trompe, ou, La rencontre imprevue. Opera-comique en un acte. Represente pour la premiere fois sur le Theatre de la Foire S. Germain, le 18 fevrier 1754.

Description: In the mid-eighteenth century, comic opera librettos served a dual purpose, as evinced by the libretto to Vadé ’s Trompeur trompé (1754). Although the primary function of the publication was to allow audience members to follow along with the text of the opera, solo airs were printed in the back of the book. Not all the melodies are included, but those printed in the libretto enhance our understanding of an opera the music of which was never published as a comprehensive musical score.
Date: 1754
Creator: Vade, M. (Jean Joseph), 1719-1757.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Oeuvres de M. Vade, ou recueil des opera-comiques, & parodies qu'il a donnes depuis quelques annees; avec les airs, rondes, & vaudevilles notes; & autres ouvrages du meme auteur.

Description: Jean-Joseph Vadé’s popularity as a composer and librettist is evident in the publication of his collected works, which first appeared in 1755 but was expanded in 1758, a year after his death. Vadé’s Å“uvre consists of mostly opĂ©ras comiques, some with original music rather than preexisting tunes. The collected works editions include fictional correspondence and poetry. Vadé’s interest in capturing the bustling atmosphere of fish markets is evident in such works as Les quatre bouquets poissard… more
Date: 1755
Creator: Vade, M. (Jean Joseph), 1719-1757.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Servante maĂ®tresse : comĂ©die en deux actes mĂªlĂ©e d'ariettes

Description: The intermezzo La serva padrona first appeared between the acts of Pergolesi’s Il prigioniero superbo in 1733. This was the standard way in which to present an intermezzo. The work served as comic relief in the midst of more solemn opera serie, and incorporated elements of the improvisational commedia del’arte tradition. For instance, the few characters are drawn from stock types, such as the servant Serpina.
Date: 1755
Creator: Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista, 1710-1736 & Federico, Gennaro Antonio, 18th cent
Partner: UNT Music Library

Oden und Lieder mit ihren eigenen Melodien

Description: This collection opens with a brief letter of dedication from Leyding to his friend Johann Jakob Dusch followed by a preface. The table of contents lists the songs in the order in which they appear in this volume. All of the songs are written in two staves - the top with soprano clef; the bottom, with bass clef. The first stanza of each poem is manually underlaid below the top staff. The full text of the poem is printed either below the music or on the following page. The vocal line use either s… more
Date: 1757
Creator: Leyding, Johann Dietrich, 1721-1781.
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Storia Della Musica: Volume 1

Description: Copy of the first of three volumes of "Storia della musica" (Music History) containing eleven chapters and three dissertations. The text describes various topics related to music history including music classification, early music in biblical descriptions, music theories, singing and harmonies, church music, and musical notations.
Date: 1757
Creator: Martini, Giovanni Battista, 1706-1784
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Cendrillon

Description: Libretto of the 1759 pastiche-style comic opera "Cendrillon," by Louis Anseaume. The songs were contributed by the singer-composer Jean-Louis Laruette and Egidio Duni, which they likely adapted from fashionable tunes. "Cendrillon" (Cinderella in English) premiered in Paris at Foire St-Germain on February 21, 1759. The opera underwent two revisions before the definitive version of 1764. Anseaume adapted the plot the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. This copy includes (from pp.54-63) notated m… more
Date: 1759
Creator: Anseaume, M. (Louis), 1721-1784
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Ifigenia in Aulide

Description: This is a ca. 1762 copy of the libretto of "Ifigenia in Aulide," by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi, the principal librettist at the Teatro Regio in Turin. Cigna-Santi's libretto is an adaptation of Euripide's story of Ifigenia, the daughter of the king of Argos, Agamemnon. The goddess Diana decreed that Ifigenia had to be sacrificed in order to guarantee fair winds for the king's fleet on their journey to Troy. Achilles, rushed to save Ifigenia, his wedding bride, but Diana, moved by Ifigen… more
Date: 1762
Creator: Cigna-Santi, Vittorio Amedeo.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Artaxerxes. An English opera.

Description: 1763 English libretto for Thomas Arne's opera Artaxerxes. Thomas Arne most likely wrote his own libretto for Artaxerxes, which enjoyed a successful run at Covent Garden beginning on 2 February 1762. Artaxerxes follows the structure of Metastasio’s Italian libretto on the same subject; no other English-language opera has been recognized as following the principles of Metastasian opera seria.
Date: 1763
Creator: Arne, Thomas Augustine, 1710-1778
Partner: UNT Music Library
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