This a manuscript copy of two Mass movements, Kyrie and Gloria, gathered from a "Messa à 4." The copyist, Vincenso Marchetti, attributed this mass to the composer Matteo Bisso. The texts of both movements of the Mass are divided in several sections and set musically for an ensemble of mixed choir (S.A.T.B), vocal soloists, strings and basso continuo. Each section reflects changes of tonality, tempo, and musical meter. The composer indicated dynamics, the use of muted strings (e.g., p.[84]) and performance indications such as unison and col parte (e.g., p. [76] and p.[79]). The last section for the Chirie [sic] is set musically as a slow fugue in triple meter.

Although Sacrati’s La finta pazza (1641) was immensely popular and influential, the opera has received little discussion in modern scholarship, due in large part to the absence of the music (even the number of extant copies of librettos is very small). Since Lorenzo Bianconi discovery of a score that was used for traveling productions, the opera has received increasing attention.

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.

This is the libretto of "Orfeo ed Euridice" by Ranieri de Calzabigi, published in vol 2 of "Raccolta di melodrammi serj scritti nel secolo XVIII." The original volume contains works by Apostolo Zeno, Giuseppe Parini, Marco Coltellini, Castone Rezzonico della Torre, Ranieri de Calsabigi, and F. Saverio de Rogati. On the back of the t.p. appears a quote in Virgil's "Georg.," iv, 465: "Te dulcis conjux, te solo in littore mecum, te veniente die, te discedente canebam." The libretto includes a prologue and list of characters.

This is a copy of Cattuffio Panchianio's "Rutzvanscad, il Giovine," a parody of Greek tragedy. The library's copy is bound with the libretto of Giovanni Battista Casti's "Prima la musica e poi le parole." Clarification notes relating to terms and characters of the tragedy appear on the back of p.79 together with a list of printing errors.

Second violin parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

First violin parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

Viola parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

Basso parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

By the time of Mozart and Da Ponte’s collaboration on Don Giovanni, the Don Juan legend had been represented in musical entertainments and on the popular stage a number of times. Although it was an unusual topic for Viennese court opera, the retelling of the Don Juan story was immensely appealing for the Italian troupe in Prague. Don Giovanni did eventually make its way to Vienna, but the opera did not meet the same success it had received in Prague.

By the time of Mozart and Da Ponte’s collaboration on Don Giovanni, the Don Juan legend had been represented in musical entertainments and on the popular stage a number of times. Although it was an unusual topic for Viennese court opera, the retelling of the Don Juan story was immensely appealing for the Italian troupe in Prague. Don Giovanni did eventually make its way to Vienna, but the opera did not meet the same success it had received in Prague.

This is a copy of Giovanni Battista Casti's libretto for the comic opera "Prima la musica e poi le parole". On the back of the t.p. appears a list of characters and names Antonio Salieri as the composer of the music. The one-act opera was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II. Members of the Burgtheater's Italian troupe premiered it at the Schönbrunn Palace on February 7, 1786. The library's copy is bound with the libretto of Zaccaria Valaresso's "Rutzvanscad, il giovine."

1686 libretto for Giuseppe Fabrini's opera La forza del sangue, e della pietà. The music for all of Giuseppe Fabrini’s operas, including La forza del sangue e della pietà, is lost. However, the libretti by Gerolamo Gigli, have been preserved for these dramas that were performed at the Collegio Tolomei in Siena. La forza del sangue e della pietà translates as “The Force of Blood and Pity.”

This item is a copy from [ca. 1790] of the score of Handel's opera Sosarme to a libretto by Matteo Noris. The performance forces include: oboe, horns, strings (violin, viola, bass), continuo, and soloist singers. A list of important musical numbers, solo arias and duets of each act appears on p.116. The names of the subscribers appear on pp.[119-120]. The title page contains an engraving showing two mythological figures [possibly, the god Apollo and the Muse Erato] and musical instruments signed by the London engraver [John] Strongitharm of Pall Mall.

Though the cover of this volume is in French, the title page gives the same information in German. This latter language also receives pride of place in the text underlay: Most songs are solely in German but, when lyrics are given in two languages, German is immediately below the musical staves with either Italian or French in italics below the German. Songs use one to three voices with the voice part sometimes integrated into the top staff of the piano part with text underlay indicating when to sing. Several songs are set for three-part Männerchor or four-part chorus with piano accompaniment. In strophic settings, only the first stanza of poetry appears in the score; the rest are included as addenda at the end of the piece. The volume concludes with a table of contents given the name and first line of each song in all languages used for each entry.

Goldoni turned to Samuel Richardson’s novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) as the inspiration for his La buona figliuola. In 1750, he wrote the play Pamela nubile and then turned it into a libretto for Duni. Although Duni’s La buona figliuola (1756) was a failure, Piccinni’s setting in 1760 was a huge success. The hilarious comedy coupled with Piccinni’s sentimental treatment of Cecchina contributed to the popularity of the opera, which still receives performances to this day. Typical of opera buffe, La buona figliuola features chain-like finales that propel the plot and characters to the end of the act (at that time, sectional finales were new to Rome). Other features of his music that receive praise are the beautiful, Italianate melodies, energetic accompaniments, and the variety of musical treatment throughout the opera.

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 poet who wrote parodies and burlesque letters-much of it obscene in nature. The introduction of this work was written by the Venetian Count Gasparo Gozzi, himself a poet, prose writer, journalist, critic, and also the brother of Baretti's friend, Carlo Gozzi. The library's copy of "Le piacevoli poesie" is bound with the following librettos: "Ifigenia in Aulide" by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi; “Catone in Utica,” by Pietro Metastasio; "Sofonisba" by Mattia Verazi; and "Arianne e Teseo" by Pietro Pariati.

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 Ifigenia's obedience, spared her life before the priest killed her. Ferdinando Giuseppe Bertoni set this libretto to music for the 1762 carnival season in Turin. According to scholar George Hollis, the surviving arias of Ifigenia in Aulide are technically demanding and contain florid and lengthy passages in the tradition of opera seria. The library's copy of "Ifigenia in Aulide"is bound with the following librettos: "Catone in Utica," by Pietro Metastasio; "Sofonisba" by Mattia Verazi; "Arianne e Teseo" by Pietro Pariati; and "Le piacevoli poesie" by Gasparo Gozzi.

This score is special edition of Mozart's opera "Idomeneo" issued by subscription by J. Frey in ca. 1822. The cursive signature J. Frey appears in ink at the bottom of the t.p. This edition is in two volumes. Volume 1 lists the names of subscribers and has a table of contents for each of the three acts with the incipit of first lines of texts of arias, recitatives and choruses. Volume 1 also contains the overture of the opera and the first act. Volume 2 contains the second and third acts. According to New Grove, in 1780 Mozart received a commission to composed a serious opera on a libretto by the Salzburg cleric Giambattista Varesco, which the latter based on Antoine Danchet's Idoménée.

This score is special edition of Mozart's opera "Idomeneo" issued by subscription by J. Frey in ca. 1822. The cursive signature J. Frey appears in ink at the bottom of the t.p. This edition is in two volumes. Volume 1 lists the names of subscribers and has a table of contents for each of the three acts with the incipit of first lines of texts of arias, recitatives and choruses. Volume 1 also contains the overture of the opera and the first act. Volume 2 contains the second and third acts. According to New Grove, in 1780 Mozart received a commission to composed a serious opera on a libretto by the Salzburg cleric Giambattista Varesco, which the latter based on Antoine Danchet's Idoménée.

This volume contains fifteen sacred and secular songs for one to four voices with piano accompaniment. Contrary to the title page, the titles of each song are given either in German or German and Italian. When both languages are present in the text underlay, the Italian text sits directly below the staves with German below the Italian. Most songs either give "Singstimme" or a voice part for the vocal staves; some give names of characters, possibly indicating a theatrical or semi-dramatic performance context. Songs for one voice tend to be strophic while part songs are through-composed. Authors such as Gellert, Metastasio, and Shakespeare figure among the authors (most anonymous) of the texts. As with the other binlingual pieces in this volume, the scene "Arianna a Naxos" is set in Italian and German. The interaction of the soprano voice and piano accompaniment as well as the structural alternation between arioso/aria and recitative reveals this piece to be a solo cantata. The volume concludes with a four-page catalog of all of Breitkopf und Härtel's publications in Leipzig complete with price in thalers for each piece and a table of contents. The positioning of the Inhalt at the end of the volume reflects …

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, the god Apollo and the Muse Erato] and musical instruments signed by the London engraver [John] Strongitharm of Pall Mall appear on the title page. The name of each character appear at the top of p.3 with the names of the actual performers inscribed with pencil. The names of the casting coincide with those listed in the Oxford Dictionary of Music (online, 2009): "the castratos Senesino, Gaetano Berenstadt and Giuseppe Bigonzi (Caesar, Ptolemy and Nirenus), Francesca Cuzzoni (Cleopatra), Margherita Durastanti (Sextus), Anastasia Robinson (Cornelia), Giuseppe Boschi (Achillas) and John Lagarde or Laguerre (Curius)."

This is a ca. 1764 copy of the libretto of the opera seria "Sofonisba" by Mattia Verazi. Baldassare Galuppi set this libretto to music for the 1764 carnival season in Turin. Mattia Verazi became a court poet at Mannheim and Stuttgart in 1756. Duke Carl Eugen favored operas with French influence, and Verazi catered to his tastes by providing libretti that deviated from Metastasian opera conventions. In 1762, Verazi and Tommaso Traeta collaborated to create operas following French models. Sofonisba was the result of such collaboration. Sofonisba and Siface, king of Numidia, are married and have a child. When Siface fails to return from battle against the Romans, Massinissa, Sofonisba’s former suitor, renews his advances. Siface appears among the captives and rejoins his wife but fail in their attempt to escape from their Roman captors. Afraid that she will be marched in chains through the streets of Rome, Sofonisba poisons herself and is dying when the news arrives that all has been resolved. Baldassare Galuppi composed the music of the opera for the 1764 Turin carnival season. The opening scene includes a programmatic sinfonia that accompanies a pantomimed battle, and later, another pantomime that depicts gladiatorial games. Verazi included detailed …

Libretto of the opera seria "Arianna e Teseo" by Pietro Pariati. The story unfolds in the island of Crete where several young Athenian men are brought to be ritually sacrificed, and Athenian maidens are to be delivered as victims to a minotaur that lives in a labyrinth. Among the Athenians is Arianna, the daughter of Minos (Minosse), King of Crete, who was abducted as a child by King Aegeus, and Teseo, Aegeus's son. Teseo is determined to kill the minotaur in order to save Arianna's friend Laodice, but Arianna believes that he loves her friend. In spite of her doubts, she hands over to Teseo the secret how to kill the minotaur and vanquish Tauride, King Mino's champion, which she overheard from Minos. The work ends with Teseo's victory over the minotaur and his reconciliation with Arianna.