Add MS 71209

KEYBOARD PIECES: volume of keyboard pieces by Pepusch, William Babel and others, with two vocal items; early 18th cent. [before 1714?]. The end fly-leaf has tallies, with the instruction ‘For Babel att M.r Scotts In Deens Cour Deen Street near S.t Ann’s Church near soho square’ (f. iii). Written in at least four hands. With note of purchase by the previous owner, Lady Jeans, from Kenneth Mummery in 1964 (f. i). Also signed ‘Elisabeth Griffeth’ (f. ii v). A detailed description of the manuscript, prepared by Anthony Hicks, which includes incipits for the unidentified works, can be found at Add. MS 71209*. See also G. Pont, ‘An Early Eighteenth-century Manuscript of Harpsichord music: William Babel and Handel’s "Vo’ far guerra"’, British Library Journal, 21 (1995) pp. 176-183. Purchased at Sotheby’s, 28 May 1993, lot 83.

Paper; ff. iii+80. 196 x 267mm. Bound in blind-stamped reversed calf.

1. ff. 1v-2. Song, ‘Bright Wonder of Nature’, from the Pasticcio Thomyris. Printed (in B flat major) in Songs in the New Opera call’d Thomyris (Walsh, [1707]).

2. ff. 2v-3r. ‘Giga’, a keyboard version of Corelli’s violin sonata in G minor, op. 5, no. 5.

3. ff. 3v-8r. Albinoni: keyboard version of his Concerto in D major, op. 2, no. 6.

4. ff. 8v-10r. Pepusch: keyboard suite in three movements. The first and second are the first two movements of no. 9 of ‘Sixteen Sonatas for a Violin and a Bass Viol .. for Mrs Litton’ (Brussels, Conservatoire royal de Musique, MS 15455) and the third movement is found (in E major) as the fourth movement in no. 10 of Pepusch’s Sonates a Violon Seul et un Basse Continue, Op. 2 (Amsterdam: Roger, [1706]).

5. ff. 10v-11r. ‘Sig.r Nicolini, La fortuna’: keyboard arrangement of the aria ‘La fortuna è un pronto ardir’ sung by Nicolini as Pyrrhus in N.F. Haym and A. Scarlatti’s pasticcio Pyrrhus and Demetrius (1709), etc. The aria is apparently neither by Haym nor by Scarlatti.

6. ff. 11v-12. Albinoni: keyboard arrangement of the first movement of his Concerto a cinque ... Opera Quinta (Venice, 1707).

7. ff. 13r-16r. ‘Del Sig: Pepusch’: a suite for keyboard in C major in three movements (titled ‘Prelude’, ‘Allemanda’ and ‘J[i]gge’). The first movement is not known to be by Pepusch. The second and third appear as movements 1 and 4 of an anonymous four-movement suite in the ‘Walond MS’ in the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, pp. 54-7. Fol. 16v is ruled with staves but is otherwise blank.

8. ff. 17r-18v. Keyboard arrangement of the aria ‘Empia stella, nemica e rubella’ sung by Isabella Girardeu as Mandane in Hydaspes (1710). Incomplete on fol. 18. The opera is an adaptation (by Nicolini?) of Mancini’s Gl’amanti generosi (Naples, 1705).

9. ff. 19r-20r. Keyboard arrangement of the aria ‘Lusinga del mio core’ sung by Isabella Girardeu as Mandane in Hydaspes (1710). See no. 8 above.

10. ff. 20v-21r. Handel: keyboard arrangement of ‘Bel piacere’ from his Rinaldo (1711), sung by Isabella Girardeu as Almirena. In the hand of Babel, but different from the version he published in Suits of the most celebrated lessons ([1717]).

11. ff. 21v-22r. Keyboard movement (‘Allegro’ in D major), probably by Babel and probably intended to lead into no. 12 below.

12. ff. 22v-27r. Keyboard arrangement of aria ‘Cares when they’re over’ from the pasticcio Clotilda (1709), sung by Margarita de l’Epine as Clotilda. A similar arrangement published by Babel in The Lady’s Entertainment, iv (Walsh & Hare, [1716?]), pp. 29-31.

13. ff. 27v-30r. ‘Prelude’: keyboard music probably by Babel and probably intended to lead into no. 14 below.

14. ff. 30v-49r. Handel: keyboard arrangement of the aria ‘Vo’ far guerra’ from his Rinaldo (1711), sung by Elizabetta Pilotti Schiavonetti as Armida. A version of the arrangement published in Babel’s Suits of the most celebrated lessons ([1717]).

15. ff. 49v-54r. ‘Ov[erture]’: keyboard arrangement in F major of the overture to his Rinaldo (1711). Similar to the version published in Babel’s Suits of the most celebrated lessons ([1717]).

16. ff. 54v-57r. Handel: keyboard version of a movement in D minor. Variants of this piece are found in the last movements of the overture to [italics]Il Pastor Fido[/italics] (1712), etc.

17. ff. 57v-59v. Handel: keyboard arrangement of the aria ‘Sì, t’amo, oh caro’ from his [italics]Teseo[/italics] (1713), sung by Margarita de L’Epine as Agilea. Another arrangement of the aria is in Babel’s [italics]Suits of the most celebrated lessons[/italics] ([1717]).

18. ff. 60r-61r. Handel: keyboard arrangement of aria ‘Più non cerca liberatà’ from his [italics]Teseo[/italics] (1713), sung by Jane Barbier as Arcane.

19. ff. 61v-67r. Corelli: keyboard version of his Violin sonata in A major, op. 5, no. 9.

20. ff. 67v-70r. Two movements for keyboard in A major, the first an untitled Allemande, the second titled ‘Giga’.

21. ff. 70v-73v. ‘Sonata del Sig.[superscript]r[/superscript] Corelli’: the Preludio and Corrente only from his Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 5 no. 7.

22. ff. 74r-76r. Two movements for keyboard in B minor titled ‘Gavotta’ and ‘Minuett’.

23. ff. 76v-77v. Movement for keyboard in G minor titled ‘Jigg’. f. 78r is ruled with staves but is otherwise blank.

24. ff. 78v. Movement in A minor for keyboard titled ‘Minuett’. [italics]Incomplete[/italics], at least 8 ff. have been removed at this point with only the stubs remaining. Variants of this movement have been attributed to Handel, in [italics]Pièces de Clavecin[/italics] (Paris, 1739?) etc., and to Loeillet, in Add. MS 31577 ff. 18v-19r.

25. ff. 79r-80v reversed. ‘Cantata S.[superscript]r[/superscript] Pepusch’: keyboard arrangement of the aria ‘Sounds Tho’ charming can’t relieve thee’ from J.C. Pepusch’s cantata [italics]Alexis[/italics], no. 2 of [italics]Six English cantatas humbly inscrib’d to the most noble of the Marchioness of Kent[/italics] (Walsh, [1710]). [italics]Incomplete[/italics] on f. 79v. At least 3 ff. have been removed from the end of the volume after f. 80.