1739 · Firenze
by [VOCAL MUSIC - 18th Century - Florentine]. Rigacci, Giuseppe, compiler
Firenze: Francesco Moücke, 1739. Small octavo. Full contemporary carta rustica with manuscript titling to spine. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (recto blank, verso engraving by Carl L. Gregory after M. Tuscher), 3-6 (dedication), 7-8 ("Al lettore"), 9-71, [i] (blank), 73-99, [i] (blank), 101-128 pp. Music and poetry typeset.
The engraving depicts two medallions, one with a woman in profile with elaborate hairstyle and the other with an owl holding a key within a laurel. With occasional woodcut head- and tailpieces and historiated initials.
Contains numerous poems in Italian and Greek and six songs with unfigured bass line:
1) Orlandini, Giuseppe Maria 1676-1760. "Grazie agl'inganni tuoi," pp. 9-15
2) Veracini, Francesco Maria 1690-1768. "No Tirsi tu non hai quella." pp. 23-29
3) [Caponi, Abate Raniero]. "Dunque di sciolto," pp. 36-44
4) Arrigoni, Carlo 1697-1744. "O Dolce Primavera," pp. 61-67
5) Arrigoni. "Doribel la graziosa," pp. [73]-78
6) Orlandini. "Donne se avete in sen," pp. 101-105
Occasional attributions to poets in contemporary manuscript; one word canceled on p. 5.
Binding slightly worn, soiled, and stained, with minor loss to spine. Minor wear; light dampstaining to lower outer corners of most leaves; some gatherings split; final signature partially detached; small tear to upper right corner of title; minor loss to upper outer corner of p. 55.
Quite a good crisp, wide-margined copy overall, despite defects as noted. First Edition. Apparently the sole source for these six songs. RISM Recueils II, p. 298.
Orlandini was a Florentine composer. "The large number and wide spread of performances of his operas confirm the opinions of Burney, La Borde, Martini and Quadrio that Orlandini was highly celebrated as a composer of dramatic music. He was best known for his comic intermezzos. ... Indeed, Orlandini’s Bacocco e Serpilla (under various titles and with added music by various composers) appears to have been the most frequently performed piece of musical drama in the entire 18th century." John Walter Hill and Francesco Giuntini in Grove Music Online
Arrigoni was an Italian lutenist, theorbo player, and composer, with close association to Florence. "By at least 1718 he was a member of the musicians’ company there. He is listed as a theorbo player at an oratorio performance on 31 March 1720 and as a violinist at a private concert on 30 July 1724, both in Florence. In 1721 he was elected a member of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. His presence in London between 1731 and 1736 coincided with the lifespan of the Opera of the Nobility, rival to Handel’s company, which presented four performances of his Fernando beginning on 5 February 1734. In the 1732–3 season he directed concerts at Hickford’s Rooms, together with Giuseppe Sammartini, according to a newspaper announcement quoted by Burney. Other announcements mention his participation in London concerts on 20 April and 7 May 1733, 27 March and 11 April 1735, and 21 January, 5 March and 8 March 1736, either at Hickford’s Rooms or Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Arrigoni also sang and played his own music in Dublin on 20 October 1733. He sang the tenor part in Handel’s cantata Cecilia, volgi un sguardo and played the lute in Handel’s concerto op.4, no.6, both at original performances of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast at Covent Garden in February and March 1736 (see Dean). Later in 1736 he was made aiutante di camera by Grand Duke Giovanni Gastone of Tuscany, and in 1737 the new Grand Duke, Franz II, named him chamber composer." John Walter Hill in Grove Music Online
Veracini was an Italian composer and violinist. "There being no opera in London for the season of 1738–9, Veracini returned briefly to Florence where his uncle, wife and mother had died in his absence. Charles de Brosses heard him play there in 1739, and reported that ‘his playing is just, noble, knowledgeable and precise, but a little lacking in grace’. Burney concurred, writing (also from first hand) that ‘the peculiarities of his performance were his bow-hand, his shake, his learned arpeggios, and a tone so loud and clear, that it could be distinctly heard through the most numerous band of a church or theatre’. All agreed that he was the first, or at least one of the first, violinists of Europe (see illustration). On 28 February 1741 Veracini was back in London, playing a concerto between the acts of Handel’s Acis and Galatea." John Walter Hill in Grove Music Online
An attractive songbook, offering a fascinating glimpse of a cross-section of the Florentine cultural scene in the year 1739. (Inventory #: 40719)
The engraving depicts two medallions, one with a woman in profile with elaborate hairstyle and the other with an owl holding a key within a laurel. With occasional woodcut head- and tailpieces and historiated initials.
Contains numerous poems in Italian and Greek and six songs with unfigured bass line:
1) Orlandini, Giuseppe Maria 1676-1760. "Grazie agl'inganni tuoi," pp. 9-15
2) Veracini, Francesco Maria 1690-1768. "No Tirsi tu non hai quella." pp. 23-29
3) [Caponi, Abate Raniero]. "Dunque di sciolto," pp. 36-44
4) Arrigoni, Carlo 1697-1744. "O Dolce Primavera," pp. 61-67
5) Arrigoni. "Doribel la graziosa," pp. [73]-78
6) Orlandini. "Donne se avete in sen," pp. 101-105
Occasional attributions to poets in contemporary manuscript; one word canceled on p. 5.
Binding slightly worn, soiled, and stained, with minor loss to spine. Minor wear; light dampstaining to lower outer corners of most leaves; some gatherings split; final signature partially detached; small tear to upper right corner of title; minor loss to upper outer corner of p. 55.
Quite a good crisp, wide-margined copy overall, despite defects as noted. First Edition. Apparently the sole source for these six songs. RISM Recueils II, p. 298.
Orlandini was a Florentine composer. "The large number and wide spread of performances of his operas confirm the opinions of Burney, La Borde, Martini and Quadrio that Orlandini was highly celebrated as a composer of dramatic music. He was best known for his comic intermezzos. ... Indeed, Orlandini’s Bacocco e Serpilla (under various titles and with added music by various composers) appears to have been the most frequently performed piece of musical drama in the entire 18th century." John Walter Hill and Francesco Giuntini in Grove Music Online
Arrigoni was an Italian lutenist, theorbo player, and composer, with close association to Florence. "By at least 1718 he was a member of the musicians’ company there. He is listed as a theorbo player at an oratorio performance on 31 March 1720 and as a violinist at a private concert on 30 July 1724, both in Florence. In 1721 he was elected a member of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. His presence in London between 1731 and 1736 coincided with the lifespan of the Opera of the Nobility, rival to Handel’s company, which presented four performances of his Fernando beginning on 5 February 1734. In the 1732–3 season he directed concerts at Hickford’s Rooms, together with Giuseppe Sammartini, according to a newspaper announcement quoted by Burney. Other announcements mention his participation in London concerts on 20 April and 7 May 1733, 27 March and 11 April 1735, and 21 January, 5 March and 8 March 1736, either at Hickford’s Rooms or Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Arrigoni also sang and played his own music in Dublin on 20 October 1733. He sang the tenor part in Handel’s cantata Cecilia, volgi un sguardo and played the lute in Handel’s concerto op.4, no.6, both at original performances of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast at Covent Garden in February and March 1736 (see Dean). Later in 1736 he was made aiutante di camera by Grand Duke Giovanni Gastone of Tuscany, and in 1737 the new Grand Duke, Franz II, named him chamber composer." John Walter Hill in Grove Music Online
Veracini was an Italian composer and violinist. "There being no opera in London for the season of 1738–9, Veracini returned briefly to Florence where his uncle, wife and mother had died in his absence. Charles de Brosses heard him play there in 1739, and reported that ‘his playing is just, noble, knowledgeable and precise, but a little lacking in grace’. Burney concurred, writing (also from first hand) that ‘the peculiarities of his performance were his bow-hand, his shake, his learned arpeggios, and a tone so loud and clear, that it could be distinctly heard through the most numerous band of a church or theatre’. All agreed that he was the first, or at least one of the first, violinists of Europe (see illustration). On 28 February 1741 Veracini was back in London, playing a concerto between the acts of Handel’s Acis and Galatea." John Walter Hill in Grove Music Online
An attractive songbook, offering a fascinating glimpse of a cross-section of the Florentine cultural scene in the year 1739. (Inventory #: 40719)
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