HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Folio. Disbound. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-220 pp. Engraved throughout. Slightly browned; title worn and soiled at margins, with minor abrasion to blank upper outer corner; stain to upper margin of p. 43; final leaf soiled, mostly at corners and margins. In very good condition overall. First Edition in score. Smith p. 223, no. 6. RISM H1519 and HH1519. Arnold edition no. 60-64. Composed in 1739, not 1737 as the title erroneously states. "For the concerts at Lincoln's Inn Fields and also (unusually) with publication in mind, Handel composed a set of concerti grossi or 'Grand Concertos' in a single burst of creative energy between the end of September and the end of October 1739. They were performed in the intervals of the concerts and in April 1740 were published by Walsh with an impressive subscription list led by six members of the royal family (fig.1). Their designation as Handel's op.6, though perhaps fortuitous as merely following the issue of a second set of trio sonatas as op.5, was nevertheless a significant echo of Corelli's much admired set of concertos with the same opus number." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online The first full score of Handel's celebrated Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 to be published.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Folio. Contemporary dark tan suede with decorative blindstamping, dark red leather title label gilt. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-53, [i] (blank), 55-66 pp. Engraved throughout. First Edition. Smith p. 150, no. 1. This issue not in BUC. RISM H1159 and HH1159. Occasional contemporary manuscript double slashes to delineate systems. Bound with: Handel. The Anthem which was Perform'd in Westminster Abby at the Funeral of Her most Sacred Majesty Queen Caroline . Vol. II. [HWV 264]. London: J. Walsh, [1743 or earlier]. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-86 pp., with Coronation Anthem "The King Shall Rejoice" [HWV 260] to pp. 55-86. Engraved throughout. First Edition. Smith p. 153, no. 1. This issue not in BUC. RISM H1181 and HH1181. Binding worn, rubbed, and bumped. Slightly worn, soiled, stained, and browned; short tear to one leaf repaired with archival tape. "Despite his involvement with opera, Handel found time for other musical activities in the 1720s. On25 February 1723he was made Composer of Music for His Majesty's Chapel Royal - an honorary appointment because, as an alien, he could not hold an office of profit under the Crown. The title seems simply to have given official recognition to his role in supplying occasional music for the Chapel Royal, which in the mid-1720s included three orchestrally accompanied anthems and theTe Deumin A, all based to some extent on works written for Cannons. An exceptional opportunity for ceremonial church music arose after the unexpected death of George I inJune 1727. For the coronation of his successor George II and his consort Queen Caroline at Westminster Abbey on 11 October Handel provided four new anthems of great splendour, showing how much he welcomed the chance to use the massed forces not available to him in the opera house. They includedZadok the Priest, which has been sung at every subsequent coronation of a British monarch. According to Burney (Sketch, p.34) Handel 'took offence' at being provided with the words of the anthems 'by the bishops', murmuring 'I have read my Bible very well, and shall chuse for myself'." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online An attractive ensemble of lifetime first editions of Handel's sacred works, including the first edition of Zadok the Priest, (HWV 258), one of Handel's most iconic and recognizable works, still performed for every British coronation.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Large folio (282 x 387 mm). Contemporary mid-tan calf-backed marbled boards. 1f. (recto blank, verso fine engraved half-length frontispiece portrait of Handel), 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 4, ("A Catalogue of Instrumental Music, Printed for, and Sold by Elizabeth Randall, No. 13 Catherine-Street, in the Strand"), 1f. (list of 68 subscribers including the King and Queen), 1f. (Index), [i] (blank) 2-148 pp. Music engraved, catalogue typeset. The fine Houbraken portrait of Handel depicts the composer with violin and bow, horns, sheet music, and musicians in Greco-Roman dress playing harp, aulos, lyre, and triangle, serenading a king and queen. Boards worn, rubbed, bumped, and detached. Light offsetting of portrait to title; minor browning to catalogue; very occasional light foxing to margins and minor soiling to edges; small loss to blank lower margin, p. 103. A strong impression, In very good internal condition overall. Second edition, second issue. Smith p. 105, no. 6. BUC p. 434. RISM H534 and HH534. There were at least two issues of this edition, the first with 68 subscribers and the second with 71 subscribers and 5 additional numbers printed from plates of the Walsh edition of 1751. See Dean: Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques, p. 215. "Esther, based on Racine's biblical drama. [recycles] portions of music from the Brockes Passion, but with several moments of high emotion. Given its importance as the first English oratorio, it is regrettable that nothing is known about how it came to be written; even the authorship of the libretto (variously attributed to Pope and John Arbuthnot, and drawing upon Thomas Brereton's translation of the Racine play) is uncertain. The revivals of both Esther and Acis in 1732 inspired the series of English oratorios and secular musical dramas that were to crown Handel's achievement." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online Elizabeth Randall, widow of music publisher William Randall who continued the business of John Walsh, was a music printer, music seller, and publisher located in Catherine Street the Strand from 1776 to ca. April 1783. The present 4-page catalogue is quite extensive and indicates that she had a thriving business selling her husband's inventory. (Hermond or Harmann) Wright acquired the business from Elizabeth in April 1783. Humphries and Smith: Music Publishing in the British Isles, pp. 267 and 343. The Randall catalogue offers an intriguing glimpse into the consumer music market of 1780s London, presenting a generous selection of Handel's works along with those of English, French, and Italian composers. An attractive tall, untrimmed copy.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
7 volumes. Folio. Uniformly bound in dark brown 18th century calf-backed marbled boards with dark red leather title labels gilt to uppers. Engraved throughout, save for typeset Privilege. Subscribers include 6 members of the royal family; Handel's associate, the librettist Charles Jennens (1700-1773); and the composer [Willem] De Fesch (1687-1761), with contemporary annotations adding "2 Sets" for subscribers Charles Jennens and the Musical Society at Oxford. Violino primo concertino: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (recto Privilege of King George II dated October 31, 1739, to Handel and John Walsh, verso blank), 1f. (list of subscribers), [i] (blank) 2-65, [i] (blank) pp. Violino II concertino: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-52, [i] (blank), 53-56, [i] (blank) pp. Violino primo ripieno: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-8, [i] (blank), 10-12, [i] (blank), 14-52 pp., with 2 ff. modern manuscript in ink of primo concertino and cello parts. Violino secondo ripieno: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 34, [i] (blank), 36-46 pp. Viola: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-12, [i] (blank), 14-25, [i] (blank), 27-32, [i] (blank), 34-44, [i] (blank), 46-48 pp. Violoncello: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-14, [i] (blank), 16-44, [i] (blank), 45-48, [i] (blank) pp. Basso continuo (from a later issue): Twelve Grand Concertos For Violins &c. in Seven Parts . Opera Sexta. 3d Edition. London: Walsh, 1746. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 9, [i] (blank), 11-38, [i] (blank], 40-42 pp. With "2" in contemporary manuscript to center upper margin to each leaf. Smith 4, pp. 222-223. RISM H1256 and HH1256. Bindings quite worn, rubbed, and bumped; title label to violino primo ripieno lacking. Occasional signs of wear, foxing, browning, and soiling; minor loss to outer margin and small tear to p. 9 of Violoncello part, not affecting music. First Edition, first issue (all but the basso continuo part). Smith p. 222, no. 1. BUC p. 441. RISM H1254 and HH1254. "The 12 concerti grossi or 'Grand Concertos' written in a burst of creative energy in September and October 1739 were consciously conceived as an integral set, clearly in emulation (though not imitation) of Corelli's famous set with the same opus number and the same scoring for a concertino of two violins and cello with four-part ripieno strings and continuo. (Handel later added oboe parts to nos.1, 2, 5 and 6, mostly doubling the ripieno violins.) Each concerto has an individual form. Many movements blend inextricably the majesty of the French manner with italianate fluency, and a prodigious stream of invention coupled with intensity of feeling is maintained thoughout the set. The fact that earlier material is sometimes drawn upon (three of the concertos are based on the overture to the Ode for St Cecilia's Day and the two 'Second Set' organ concertos) does not diminish the achievement, since the adaptations are fascinating and often radical in themselves, and the recognition that several thematic elements are derived from Scarlatti's Essercizi simply leads to admiration of the way Handel transforms them and uses them to build larger structures. The Polonaise in no.3 and the grave Musette of no.6 are haunting amplifications of standard dance forms. The set is an apotheosis of the Baroque concerto, to be set alongside the Brandenburg Concertos of Bach, as well as an epitome of Handel's art, drawing on many sources and influences and uniting them in a style uniquely his own." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online. A complete set of parts, assembled in the 18th century, one of Handel's most masterful works, published by the composer.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Oblong folio. Contemporary light-tan calf with marbled boards, dark red leather title label gilt. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (recto index, verso blank), [i] (blank), 172-212, [i] (blank), 214-251, [ii] (blank), 252-290, [i] (blank), 292-332 pp. Engraved throughout. Binding slightly worn, rubbed, and bumped. Occasional minor soiling, foxing, staining, and creasing; title of 5th set slightly creased and soiled at corners; p. 239 trimmed along margins with small tear to outer margin repaired with archival tape; minor loss to blank corner of p. 245. Smith p. 197, no. 17. RISM H1075. Collections of songs from Handel's oratorios were quite popular in 18th century England, with numerous publications appearing, primarily from Walsh, between 1748-1786. An attractive collection of songs from Handel's oratorios, drawn from works including Hercules, Athalia, Susanna, and Judas Maccabeus, published within the composer's lifetime.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Tall folio. Half 19th century black leather with marbled boards, spine in decorative compartments gilt, titling gilt. 1f. (recto blank, verso fine engraved frontispiece "J. Houbraken sculps. Amst." with half-length portrait of Handel, violin and bow, horns, sheet music, and illustration of musicians in Greco-Roman dress playing harp, aulos, lyre, and triangle, serenading a king and queen), 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (subscriber list), 1f. (recto index, verso blank), 38, 41-44, 39-40, 45-66, 73-114, 121-208 pp. List of subscribers and index typeset, title and music engraved. Subscribers include the King and Queen, Samuel Arnold, [Thomas] Attwood, Charles Burney, Thomas Greene, Dr. Hayes, Charles Jennens, and Thomas Linley. With ownership inscription "J. C. Chauvin" to front pastedown; inscription to front free endpaper "Presented to S. Lee By Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Sheppard, formerly Mrs. Hamwell July 1868." Binding worn, rubbed, bumped, and slightly abraded. Some browning; occasional minor soiling and foxing to margins; pp. 39-40 incorrectly bound in between pp. 44-45, lacking pp. 67-72; lower margin of recto of frontispiece reinforced. First complete edition. Smith p. 114, no. 4. BUC p. 435. RISM H637. "Many of the pages are from the plates as issued in Walsh's [earlier] editions, but with extra bass figurings, and with the original pagination and singers' names cleaned off. The earliest copies of Randall's 'Judas Maccabaeus' contain the Houbraken portrait in untouched condition such as it was originally issued by Walsh with 'Alexander's Feast', the plate not being used for Randall and Abell's 'Messiah' (1767) but in later issues of that work and other Randall scores after 'Judas Maccabaeus'." Smith p. 114. Judas Maccabaeus, to text by Thomas Morell based on biblical incidents, was first performed in London at Covent Garden on 1 April 1747. Composed to celebrate the English victory at Culloden and the return to London of the victorious general, the Duke of Cumberland, in celebration of his suppression of the 1745 rebellion, it contains the noted chorus 'See, the conquering hero comes.' "It was highly successful and proved to be one of the most enduringly popular of the oratorios, though the alterations made for later revivals tended to emphasize its jubilant and military elements rather than the pleas for reconciliation and peace which Morell had thoughtfully incorporated and Handel had carefully set. The early performances also included a concerto for orchestra with two wind groups, the first of three such works partly but very effectively arranged from earlier music (especially choruses). The season seemed to mark the end of all opposition to Handel. Lord Middlesex's company returned to the King's Theatre and opened their season on 14 November 1747 with Lucio Vero, an all-Handel pasticcio, now more in tribute to the composer than in rivalry." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online The first complete edition of Handel's celebrated oratorio, with the attractive Houbraken portrait of the composer.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Large folio. Disbound. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-53, 1f. (subscriber list), [i] (blank) pp. Engraved throughout. Light modern annotations in pencil regarding performance history of each work to upper outer corner of first leaf of music of each score. First Edition of the full score. Smith p. 257, no. 8 RISM H1505 and HH1505. OCLC 55639078. Arnold's Edition No. 23-24. Bound with: Handel. The Musick for the Royal Fireworks, Performed in the Year 1749. [HWV 351]. [Full score]. [London: Arnold, 1788]. 20 pp., caption title. First Edition of the full score. Smith 9, p. 235. RISM H1506, HH1506. OCLC 19997675. Arnold's Edition No. 24. Occasional soiling and foxing, primarily to margins; some minor browning. "The major orchestral work of this period is the Water Music, a large-scale suite specially written to accompany a royal water party of June 1717, in which George I and his entourage were conveyed by barge along the Thames from Whitehall to Chelsea and back. The suite is remarkable for being the first orchestral work composed in England to include horns, crooked in both F and D; in movements in D major they are joined, sometimes in dialogue, by trumpets. The jovial opulence of such moments is balanced by lightly scored movements in both major and minor keys, mostly having G as their tonic. Though some of the music may have been written earlier for other contexts, the recent notion that the music was conceived or considered to exist as 'three suites' is questionable, since the earliest sources (keyboard transcripts from the early 1720s) show the movements in D and G in mixed order (as in the editions of Arnold and Chrysander). Ordering the movements by key had however become a practice by the 1730s, and is reflected in the keyboard arrangement published by Walsh in 1743." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online The Musick for the Royal Fireworks, composed to celebrate the end of the War of Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, was first performed on 27 April 1749. The first full scores of two of Handel's most celebrated orchestral works.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Folio. Modern stiff marbled wrappers with dark red title label gilt to upper. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 29, [i] (blank) pp. Engraved throughout. Named singers include Sigra. Strada, Sigr. Carestini, Mr. Beard, The Boy, Miss Young, and Mr. Waltz. Binding slightly worn and rubbed. Slightly worn and browned; occasional foxing and small stains; minor worming to blank lower margins, slightly heavier to first leaves; small hole to blank outer margin of several leaves and long vertical tear to one leaf repaired with archival tape without loss. First Edition, probable first issue. Scarce. Smith p. 97, no. 1. BUC p. 433 (dated 1733). RISM H506 and HH 506. Athalia, to a libretto by Samuel Humphreys (ca. 1698-1738) based on Racine's eponymous play, was first performed in Oxford at the Sheldonian Theatre on 10 July 1733 and in London at Covent Garden on 1 April 1735. It was the composer's third oratorio in English. It is regarded as "the first great English oratorio." Dean: Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques, p. 247.
HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759
Folio. Modern full brown pebbled cloth with titling gilt to spine. 1f. (recto blank, verso fine engraved half-length frontispiece portrait by Houbraken of Handel with violin and bow, horns, manuscript music, and musicians in Greco-Roman dress playing harp, aulos, lyre, and triangle, serenading a king and queen), 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [ii] (list of subscribers), 1f. (recto index, verso blank), [i] (blank), [2]-91, [i] (blank) pp. List of subscribers typeset; title, index, and music engraved. Subscribers include Samuel Arnold, Atwood, William Boyce, Philip Hayes, Pindar, Storace, and Charles Wesley. Ownership inscription to front pastedown of English organist Ernest Bullock (1890-1979). Contains thirteen duets: 1. Sono liete fortunate. [HWV 194] 2. Troppo cruda, troppo fiera. [HWV 198] 3. Che vai pensando folle pensier.[HWV 184] 4. Amor, gioie mi porge. [HWV 180] 5. Va speme infida pur. [HWV 199] 6. A mirarvi io Son intento. [HWV 178] 7. Quando in calma ride il mare. [HWV 191] 8. Tacete, Ohime tacete. [HWV 196] 9. Conservate roddopiate.[HWV 185] 10. Tanti strali al sen mi scocchi. [HWV 197] 11. Langue geme sospira. [HWV 188] 12. Caro Autor.[ HWV 183] 13. Se tu non lasci amore. [HWV 193] Binding very slightly bumped. Minor browning, soiling, and small stains, mostly to margins; occasional foxing; title and recto of frontispiece moderately browned, soiled, and stained; small hole to final two leaves; blank verso of final leaf heavily soiled. First Edition, first issue. Of considerable rarity. Smith p. 179, no. 2. BUC p. 439. RISM H1046 and HH1046 (one copy only in U.S., at the Library of Congress). "The chamber duets and trios for voices and continuo form a genre distinct from the monodic chamber cantata, since the singers do not impersonate characters and the music is conceived as formal counterpoint, expressing the emotion of the text in a general way; they are, in fact, madrigals with continuo accompaniment. Mainwaring's indication that 12 of the duets were written in Hanover to texts by Ortensio Mauro cannot be fully sustained: only six or seven come from that period (1711-12), the others being earlier. (The two trios also belong to the Italian period.) Another nine duets were written later in London, two around 1722 and the rest between 1741 and 1746. The latter group provided several ideas reworked in the English oratorios, including Messiah and Belshazzar. Some influence of Steffani is apparent in the fluidly melodious vocal lines, woven together with great care and with the musical points shared equally between the voices." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online The first edition of Handel's Italian duets, showing the composer's mastery of expressive counterpoint and the formative influence of his time in Rome as a young musician. With the attractive Houbraken portrait of the composer.
Folio. Modern quarter mid-tan calf with marbled boards, dark red morocco title label gilt to upper. 1f. (title), 1f. (recto "A Table of Songs," verso blank), 91, [i] (blank) pp. The music comprises the overture, arias, and final chorus. Named singers include Senesino and Signoras Strada, Bagnolesi, and Bertolli. Text added in pencil to pp. 47-51. Provenance The noted Handel collector Godfrey E. Arkwright (1864-1944), and then Gilbert Samuel Inglefield (1909-1991), Lord Mayor of London, with their bookplates to front pastedown and front free endpaper, respectively; small decorative oval handstamp "Thos. Gill No. 18" to title. Binding slightly worn and bumped. Occasional light browning, soiling, and small stains; several leaves trimmed at lower margin with loss to figured bass; loss to lower outer margin of p. 47, not affecting music; foot of page 50 trimmed, just touching bass figuring. A very good copy overall. First Edition. Smith p. 23, no. 1. BUC p. 426. RISM H130 and HH130 (3 copies only in the U.S.). Aetius was first performed in London at the King's Theatre on 15 January 1732, with libretto by Metastasio. "The opera was a failure, attaining only five performances, the lowest total for any of Handel's London operas before Berenice. . The first modern revival was at Göttingen in 1926, two years after Leichtentritt had described it as one of the most stageworthy of Handel's operas." Dean: Handel's Operas 1726-1741, p. 206. With distinguished provenance.
