Six Sonatas For Two Violins, Two Hautboys, or Two German Flutes, & a Violoncello. First Published at Amsterdam 1731. [Op. 2, Arnold's Edition No. 47-48]. [Score] - Rare Book Insider
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HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759

Six Sonatas For Two Violins, Two Hautboys, or Two German Flutes, & a Violoncello. First Published at Amsterdam 1731. [Op. 2, Arnold’s Edition No. 47-48]. [Score]

Arnold, London: 1789
  • $345
Folio. Disbound. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-60 pp. Engraved throughout. Without the frontispiece found in some copies. First Edition of the score, previously published in parts only. Smith p. 245, no. 7. HWV 386-391 Vol. III, p. 169. RISM H1513. Dr. Arnold's edition of the collected works of Handel was published in 180 numbers between 1787 and 1797. It was the earliest attempt at producing such an undertaking of any major composer.
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Autograph music quotation from the composer’s Lieutenant Kiji suite for orchestra, op. 60, signed in full

2 measures from the second theme of the 3rd movement of the suite. Notated in black ink on light gray paper and dated 1938. With "Autogram" printed at head and photographic reproduction of Prokofiev at the piano laid down to left. Verso with annotations in pencil and printed identification laid down. Very slightly creased. "Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé (ПоручРк КРРе, Poruchik Kizhe) . was originally written to accompany the film of the same name, produced by the Belgoskino film studios in Leningrad in 1933-34 and released in March 1934. It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission. In the early days of sound cinema, among the various distinguished composers ready to try their hand at film music, Prokofiev was not an obvious choice for the commission. Based in Paris for almost a decade, he had a reputation for experimentation and dissonance, characteristics at odds with the cultural norms of the Soviet Union. By early 1933, however, Prokofiev was anxious to return to his homeland, and saw the film commission as an opportunity to write music in a more popular and accessible style. After the film's successful release, the five-movement Kijé suite was first performed in December 1934, and quickly became part of the international concert repertoire. It has remained one of the composer's best-known and most frequently recorded works. Elements of the suite's score have been used in several later films, and in two popular songs of the Cold War era." Wikipedia Prokofiev was a noted Russian composer and pianist born in Ukraine. "A large number of the works that are free from political professions have a firm place in the international repertory, and he is rightly counted one of the major composers of the 20th century. He was not a great influence on younger generations of composers, unlike Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, Stravinsky, Bartók and Messiaen - except in the Soviet Union, where Soviet-trained musicians of a whole generation took their guidelines from either Shostakovich or Prokofiev, raising the achievement of one or the other to the status of a philosophy of life, and passed on their stylistic features to those who followed." Dorothea Redepenning in Grove Music Online.
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Fine original oil portrait painting by the British artist Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723). The only known portrait of this noted Italian violinist, guitarist, and composer. 1682

Image size 30 x 25.5 inches (76.8 x 64.8 cm). In an ornate painted wooden frame, 37.25 x 32.25 inches. (94.8 x 81.8 cm). The subject is depicted turned quarter-left, with long hair (possibly a wig), wearing a rich dark brown jacket pinned at the right shoulder and a green and white cravat. With "Nicola Matteis / G. Kneller Fecit / 1682" in manuscript to verso. Provenance Old label to verso indicating that the painting belonged to Lord Anglesey. It is recorded as belonging to William Barrow of Llandudno in the 1960s and by descent to his heir ,Miss D. Weir. Last sold at Sotheby's sale of Old Master & British Paintings in London on 10 April 2013 (lot 35): "This signed and dated work is the only known portrait of the first notable Italian Baroque violinist to have settled in London. A composer of significant popularity in his time and a virtuoso performer he revolutionised the use of the violin in London and introduced the Italian style of playing the instrument into English taste." Sotheby's catalogue entry Condition Oil on canvas. Unlined. Minor surface wear. Frame slightly worn, with small 1/2" area of upper edge of lacking. The only known portrait of this noted Italian violinist, guitarist, and composer. Reproduced in Michael Tilmouth's important article on Matteis in The Musical Quarterly, Vol. XLVI, No 1, between pp. 28 and 29. Although Matteis referred to himself as a "Napolitano" in several of his musical publications, he seems to have taken up residence in England in ca. 1670. "[He] was clearly an extraordinary violinist and a key figure in the development of violin playing in England. . Matteis was active as a teacher and, according to North, had 'many scollars'. He was to have joined Purcell, Draghi, Keller and Finger on the staff of the proposed Royal Academy (1695). In 1696 John Walsh (i) advertised 'A Collection of new Songs set by Mr Nicola Matteis made purposely for the use of his Scholars.' " Peter Walls in Grove Music Online In addition to various collections of instrumental and vocal works, Matteis published the important treatise "Le false consonanse della musica" in London, ca. 1680. The work was issued in an English translation as "The False Consonances of Music." It is considered ". an important ground-breaking treatise on thorough-bass realization for the guitar (though Matteis several times stressed the applicability of his instructions to other continuo instruments and included some general advice on performance and composition)." ibid The German-born artist Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) was a leading portrait painter in England. His works are held in many prominent museum collections including the National Portrait Gallery, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Royal Society, Kensington Palace, and Buckingham Palace in London; at Hampton Court; Oxford University; and the National Portrait Gallery in Dublin.
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Symphonie de Psaumes pour choeur mixte et orchestre. Réduction pour piano par son fils Sviatoslav. Partition pour Chant et Piano. Vocal Score. Nouvelle révision 1948. New revision. $1.25

Large octavo. Original ivory wrappers printed in red. 1f. (recto title, verso dedication "to the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary" and performance notes), 36 pp. Bound in full red library buckram with gilt titling to upper. With the autograph signature of the composer ("I Stravinsky") to upper wrapper in blue ink and former owner "D. Miller" in pencil to upper outer corner. Occasional performance annotations in both ink and pencil in another hand. Bound with: Oberlin Today. Volume 21, Number 2, Second Quarter, 1963: "Stravinsky at Oberlin." 8 pp. program in honor of Stravinsky's arrival at Oberlin on March 18, 1963 as guest composer-conductor to begin rehearsals for the 13th Festival of Contemporary Music there. Endpapers slightly foxed. Upper wrapper slightly very slightly worn and soiled, with oval "Oberlin Musical Union LIbrary" handstamp in purple ink. Very minor internal wear; library handstamp to first page of music; stains from early tape to inner margins of pp. 16-17 and 20-21; program creased and stained, reinforced with narrow strip of light brown tape to final page. Kirchmeyer 52-1. De Lerma S36. The Symphonie de psaumes, a choral symphony in three movements with psalm texts, was composed in 1930 during Stravinsky's neo-classical period. The work, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was first performed in Brussels on 13 December 1930, conducted by Ernst Ansermet.
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Handel’s Water Piece for the Pianoforte or Organ. [HWV 349]. [Keyboard arrangement]

One bifolium. 3, [i] (blank) pp. Three movements including an Adagio, Allegro, and a March (the adagio and march are not included in what has become, in modern times, the standard version of the suite; see note below from Grove Music Online regarding suite groupings). Some fingerings in pencil to the Allegro. Small stain and tears, not affecting music; sewing holes to gutters. OCLC (one copy only, at the British Library). "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 An attractive keyboard arrangement of three movements from Handel's celebrated Water Music, with figured bass to facilitate arrangement for solo instrument and continuo.
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Handel’s Overtures from all his Operas & Oratorios for Violins &c. in 8 Parts Alexander Balus No. LVII . Xerxes XXXI to which is added the Coronation Anthem. [Complete set of parts]

8 volumes. Folio. Contemporary quarter calf with marbled boards, two red leather labels gilt to upper boards, one with the title and the other with "John Edward Madocks Esqr." Unpaginated. Violino primo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 118 pp. including 10 blanks. Violino secondo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 102 pp. including 10 blanks. Includes Longman and Lukey catalogue. Violino terzo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 46 pp. including 9 blanks. With occasional parts for trumpet and horns. Tenor [viola]: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 69 pp. including 11 blanks. Includes Longman and Lukey catalogue. Hautboy primo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 102 pp. including 12 blanks. Hautboy pecondo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 96 pp. including 10 blanks. Basso [bassoon and violoncello]: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 103 pp. including 12 blanks; final two pages of music on one large folding leaf connected to antepenultimate page. Basso continuo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 106 pp. including 9 blanks. Bound with: Musicseller's catalogue at conclusion of second violin and viola parts. 1f. "New Music, Engraved, Printed, Published & Sold by Longman, Lukey, and Co. At No. 26, Cheapside, London, And may be had at most Music and Booksellers throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. Music growing more Universal encourages us to Print regular a Monthly List of all New Music Publish'd in London, which will be sent Gratis to such Ladies, Gentleman, Dealers, &c., as please to send their Directions . For Concerts . For the Harpsichord, Organ, or Forte Piano . Violin Music . For a Violoncello and Tenor . German Flute Music . Guitar Music . For Horns, Clarinets or Hautboys. . Vocal Music, Cantatas, Songs, &c. . Vocal Music, Divine & Moral . Good Allowance to Merchants, Captains of Ships, Shopkeepers, Dealers &c Orders from the Country, punctually Answer'd." With small rectangular bookplate "Rich: Lloyd's Music Book Wrexham" to front pastedowns of each volume and "John Massie of Coddington" (plus "John Massie of Cobbington" to violino primo part) printed to front free endpapers and several blank pages of each volume; "Alto Viola John Massie Coddington" in contemporary manuscript to upper margin of title of viola part. Narrow slip of paper laid in preceding first page of music to basso part with "Basso" in contemporary manuscript; small slip of paper with modern notation laid in to second page of overture to Berenice with annotation "2nd time see M.S." in pencil below. Bindings quite worn, rubbed, and bumped; several spines lacking or detached. Some internal wear, soiling, stains, and tears; very occasional worming; a few leaves detached. Smith p. 300, no. 39. BUC p. 421. RISM H1285 (many copies incomplete). Smith notes that this edition is "Generally from the plates of No. 38, with a new titlepage, and the addition of the Eleventh Collection (No. 30) to all the parts with its original pagination. Sets do not entirely agree, especially with regard to the Violino Terza (!) Violino Primo Ripieno, Corno and other odd parts. Some pages are from new plates and these may differ in the various copies, some of which were apparently issued by Randall (1766 or later) with the Walsh titlepage and imprint." As the plates for this set are drawn from several issues, the printed pagination is inconsistent, with alternate page numbers occasionally added. The Longman and Lukey catalogue found in the parts for second violin and viola includes, on its verso, a list of musical instruments, strings, and instrumental parts offered for sale. Of particular note in the sheet music section are several items of Jewish interest, including "Jews Airs as sung by Signor Leoni." Leoni was a German-Jewish cantor/tenor who had a career singing both traditional cantorial music at the Great Synagogue in London and theatrical music on the London stage. Former owner "John Edward Madocks" is possibly the Madocks recorded as being president of the Apollo Society in 1785. An attractive 18th century set of parts for Handel's overtures, drawn from his operas and oratorios.
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Six Concertos for the Organ and Harpsichord: Also For Violins, Hautboys, and other Instruments in 7 Parts . Opera Quarta. [HWV 289-294]. [Complete set of parts]

9 parts. Folio. Disbound and newly-sewn. In a custom-made marbled board folder with manuscript title label to upper and spine. Violino primo: 1f. (title), 4, [i] (blank), 6-13 pp. Violino secondo: 1f.( title), 5, [i] (blank), 7-11 pp. Viola: 1f. (title), [i] ( blank), 2-9 pp. Basso: 1f. (title), 11 pp. (page 11 misnumbered "9") Violino primo [Ripieno]: 1f. (title), [i], (blank), 4-9 pp. Violino secondo [Ripieno]: 1f. (title), [i], 4-8 pp. Basso [Ripieno]: 1f. (title), 9 pp. Hautboy primo: 1f. (title), 8 pp. Hautboy secondo: 1f. (title), 7 pp. (with page 11 of the Violino secondo part supplied as page 7) Early signature of "Robert Halhed Esq." to upper margins of 5 of the parts partially trimmed), possibly the Jamaican citizen Robert Halhed described as a surgeon of St. Thomas in the Vale who resided in England from 1755 where he became a successful and prosperous merchant; he and his family were buried in the Cloisters of Westminster Abby. See Powers: A Parcel of Ribbons. Eighteenth century Jamaica viewed through family stories and documents. Online site accessed March 30, 2024. Some minor browning and soiling to several leaves. First Edition, first issue, rarely found complete. Smith p. 224, no. 2, with contemporary manuscript additions as described in Smith p. 225. BUC p. 441. RISM H1224 and HH1224 (2 copies only in the U.S., not distinguishing between issue). Together with: Six Concertos For the Harpsichord or Organ . These Six Concertos were Publish'd by Mr. Walsh from my own Copy Corrected by my Self, and to Him only I have given my Right therein. George Frideric Handel. London: I. Walsh in Catherine Street in the Strand, [ ca. 1750]. [Op. 4; HWV 289-294][. [Keyboard score]. Folio. Disbound and sewn. 1f. (title), [1] (blank), 2-18, [i] (blank), 20-48 pp. Engraved. With printed note to foot of title "Of whom may be had The Instrumental parts to the above Six Concertos" followed by a list of 17 Walsh publications in three columns commencing with "Rameau's Concertos" and ending with "Handel's 80 Songs." Early signature of "Harriot Neale" to upper margin of title. Smith p. 225, no. 7. BUC p .441 ("a re-issue with a new titlepage"). RISM H1212. Handel composed three sets of organ concertos in London between 1735 and 1736; they received their first performances at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden during this period. "The organ concerto was effectively Handel's own invention, allowing him to display his abilities in both performance and composition simultaneously, and most of his oratorio concerts included one or more from 1735 onwards. Six (one originally a harp concerto, delicately scored for muted strings and recorders) were collected and published by Walsh in 1738 as Handel's op.4. No.2 in B♠and no.3 in G minor, the earliest to be composed, draw on the op.2 trio sonatas for their material, and no.5 is simply an arrangement of a recorder sonata, but nos.1 in G minor and 4 in F are more expansive and original pieces. The Andante second movement of the latter imaginatively blends an organ registration of 'Open Diapason, Stopt Diapason & Flute' with pianissimo strings." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online.
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Solomon, A Sacred Oratorio In Score, With all the additional Alterations, Composed in the Year, 1749. [HWV 67]. [Full score]

Folio. Dark ivory paper-backed blue boards. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-344 pp. Engraved. Binding considerably worn, rubbed, and bumped. Slightly worn and soiled; first signature detached, with early tape to portions of inner margin and small holes to gutter; edges soiled. Quite a good copy internally overall. Later edition. Smith p. 143, no. 5. RISM H1536 Solomon was first performed in London at Covent Garden on 17 March 1749. The question of authorship of the libretto remains uncertain, but it may have been supplied by Moses Mendez (?1690-1758), a Jewish English poet and playwright. "It is a pity he [the librettist] cannot be identified, as he had a real gift for polished lyric verse using clear images drawn from nature. He must have some credit for the new richness of style and depth of feeling that appears in the music, and which Handel subsequently sustained in all his late works. Solomon was composed between 5 May and 13 June 1748. . Solomon presents three views of an ideal monarch ruling an ideal kingdom, all linked by the religious fervour attendant upon the building of the new temple in Jerusalem. In the first act Solomon and his queen appear as the young lovers of the Song of Songs, sensuously celebrating their mutual happiness. The second act shows Solomon's wisdom in resolving a dispute between two harlots, each claiming a baby as her own. In the third act Solomon is visited by the Queen of Sheba, and uses a musical masque to demonstrate the artistic achievements of his kingdom. The use of full brass and an extra body of ripieno strings in the orchestra, coupled with writing for double chorus, gives the music special power and colour." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online One of the composer's final oratorios, with the iconic "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" preceding the airs from the third act.
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Alexander’s Feast or The Power of Musick. An Ode Wrote in Honour of St. Cecilia By Mr. Dryden . With the Recitativo’s, Songs, Symphonys and Chorus’s for Voices & Instruments. Together, with the Cantata, Duet, and Songs, as Perform’d at the Theatre Royal, in Covent Garden. Publish’d by the Author. [HWV 75 and 89]. [Full score]

HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759 Tall folio. Full modern ivory vellum with mid-tan leather ties, titling gilt to spine, all edges gilt with decorative gilt stamping. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [ii] (list of subscribers), 166, 168-190, [i] (blank), 192-193 pp. Engraved throughout. Neat contemporary corrections and annotations, including additional figurings to pp. 1, 33, 43, 47, 52-3, 64, 77, 90, 92, 102, 123, 129, 133 and 158. Several leaves with textual insertions in a later hand. The 124 subscribers include seven members of the Royal Family, various members of high society, and people in Handel's circle such as Charles Jennens and John Christopher Smith. Binding slightly worn, soiled, and stained; partial loss to ties. Occasional minor soiling and staining. Lacking publisher's catalogue found in some copies following the final page of music. First Edition, first issue. Smith p. 90, no. 1. BUC p.432. Hoboken 5, 132. RISM H994 (not distinguishing among issues). Alexander's Feast, with text by the celebrated English poet John Dryden (1631-1700) and additions by Newburgh Hamilton, was first performed in London at Covent Garden on 19 February 1736. "That Handel's imagination was profoundly stirred cannot be doubted, and is not surprising in view of the subject . and the clarity, concrete imagery, and well-placed climaxes of Dryden's poem. But the fact that the only work with English words (other than two or three occasional anthems) composed during a period when he was staking all on Italian opera should have been this glowing masterpiece is psychologically revealing ." Dean: Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques, p. 273 One of Handel's most expressive and influential oratorios.
  • $4,830
  • $4,830
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Handel’s Water Music, Adapted for the Harpsichord, or Organ. [HWV 349]. [Keyboard arrangement]

HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759 One bifolium. 4 pp. With imprint to foot of final page. Comprising three movements including an Adagio, [no tempo indication], and a March (the adagio and march are not included in what has become, in modern times, the standard version of the suite; see note below from Grove Music Online regarding suite groupings). Slightly worn, soiled, and stained, mostly to margins; horizontal tear repaired with early thread to first leaf; sewing holes to gutters. Rare. Smith p. 260. BUC p. 443. RISM H1325 and HH1325 (no copies in the U.S.). "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 An elegant keyboard arrangement of three movements from Handel's celebrated Water Music.
  • $316
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The Musick for the Royal Fireworks, Performed in the Year 1749. [HWV 351]. [Full score]

HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759 20 pp. Third edition. Smith p. 235, no. 9. RISM H1506 and HH1506. Arnold edition no. 24. The Musick for the Royal Fireworks, first performed on 27 April 1749, was composed as part of the celebration in connection with the end of the War of Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Bound with: Handel. Semele A Dramatick Performance In Score The Words altered from Congreve The Musick Composed in the Year 1743. [HWV 58]. [Full score]. [London: Arnold, 1788]. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-189, 190-191 (contents), [i] (blank) pp. First complete edition. Smith p. 149, no. 6. RISM H1507 and HH1507. Arnold edition nos. 24-28. Semele, to a libretto by William Congreve (1670-1729), was first performed in London at Covent Garden on 10 February 1744. Folio. Half dark brown leather with marbled boards. With "Fire Music. Semele. (A Dramatic Performance)" in contemporary manuscript to front pastedown. Engraved throughout. Binding worn, rubbed, and bumped; upper board detached; spine lacking. Fireworks title slightly soiled; occasional minor foxing, soiling, and browning; stain to upper right corner of p. 149 of Semele, not affecting music. "[Handel] had previously presented works with classical subjects alongside oratorio proper, and the quality of Acis and Galatea and Alexander's Feast confirms that the genre was important to him. Semele was a superb continuation of that line." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online The first complete full scores of both works.
  • $1,150
  • $1,150
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Judas Macchabaeus an Oratorio in Score As it was Originally Perform’d Compos’d by Mr. Handel with His Additional Alterations. [HWV 53]. [Full score]

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.
  • $1,380
  • $1,380
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The Celebrated Water Musick In Score Composed in the Year 1716. [HWV 348]. Bound with The Musick for the Royal Fireworks Performed in the Year 1749. [HWV 351]. [Full scores]

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.
  • $920