MS Mus. 149

MS Mus. 149. CHARLES DIBDIN: movements from identified works; 1775-1808, n.d. Arranged chronologically.

ff. 109. Overall size 310 x 250mm.

1. ff. 1-2. ‘No. 1’, overture to ‘The Quaker’, afterpiece, words after C. Shadwell, first performed at Drury Lane, 3 May 1775. In three movements, the third incomplete. Different from the overture printed in the vocal score of The Overture, Songs, &c. in the Quaker (Longman & Broderip, [1780?]).

2. f. 3. End of a recitative, ‘… father thundered at the door’, and ‘No. 31’, air, ‘Here’s all her geer, her wheel, her work’ (part of the melody only, with the words to the first verse), from ‘Rose and Colin’, afterpiece, words after Sedaine, first performed at Covent Garden, 18 Sept. 1778.

3. ff. 4-6. Chorus, ‘Gentle Eccho, as we wander’, for Columbine, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ecchoes and strings. Another setting of the same text was used in ‘The Touchstone’, pantomime first performed at Covent Garden, 4 Jan. 1779.

4. ff. 7-19. Movements connected with ‘The Shepherdess of the Alps’, opera, words after Marmontel, first performed at Covent Garden, 18 Jan. 1780. Most of the score of this work is in the Brotherton Library, Leeds.

i. ff. 7-8. ‘No. 16’ (‘No. 9’ deleted), air, ‘Ah let not an Instant of time’, from ‘The Islanders’, opera, words after Saint-Foix, first performed at Covent Garden, 25 Nov. 1780. For the libretto, see Add. 30944, ff. 196-233; see also MS Mus. 151, ff. 28-9. The music was previously used with the words ‘By love and fortune guided’, which are deleted in this score, in ‘The Shepherdess of the Alps’.

ii. ff. 9-14. Air, ‘The little Bark will safely ride’, lacking the first page.

iii. ff. 15-18. ‘No. 27’ (‘34’ deleted), ‘Finale’, ‘Eache kind Auspicious power’, from ‘The Shepherdess of the Alps’. The character of ‘Wilson’ refers to Mr Wilson, who played the Marquis of Bellemine in the production.

iv. f. 19. ‘No. 14’, air, ‘Why what would you tell me’, for soprano, bassoons and strings, and the start of a chorus, ‘Our Vessel has its port in view’, for ‘Isabella’, chorus, horns and strings. Not from ‘The Shepherdess of the Alps’, but written on the same type of paper as ff. 7-8, 15-18. The air is found in a version a tone lower in Add. 30955, ff. 105-6.

5. ff. 20-40. Movements from ‘Clump and Cudden’, interlude; first performed at the Royal Circus, May 1785. Libretto published 1785. The airs of items iii and iv are published in The favorite songs sung at the Royal Circus, in Clump & Cudden (J. Preston, [1785]).

i. ff. 20-3. End of a chorus, ‘… Bacchus of Mars beats the Drum’, with trumpet, trombones and strings. Followed by ‘[No.] 3’, recitative, ‘Fine sounding words’ (incomplete).

ii. f. 24. ‘No. 7’, recitative, ‘I faith I must not loiter so’.

iii. ff. 25-8. ‘No. 9’, recitative, ‘Oh dear our Jen’, and air, ‘Whenever I am mending a shoe’ (with bassoons).

iv. ff. 29-32. ‘No. 10’, recitative, ‘Thus I’m obliged to act the part’, and air ‘When in order drawn up’ (with clarinets).

v. ff. 33-5. Recitative, ‘Well cheer thy spirits’, and the end of an air, ‘… thou shalt hear appalled with fears’ with oboes and strings.

vi. ff. 36-40. Recitative, ‘Here take thy money friend’, and chorus, ‘Thus soldiers should in time of peace’.

6. ff. 41-6. Movements from ‘The Benevolent Tar, or The Miller’s Daughter’, opera first performed at the Royal Circus in 1785. For other movements from the same work, see Adds. 30951, ff. 50, 116; 30952, f. 179; 30953, f. 23; and 30955, f. 13.

i. f. 41. ‘No. 7’ (deleted), recitative, ‘Oh what a noble fellow’, with a cue to ‘No. 8’, ‘song’, ‘To nature in praise’, and ‘No. 9’, recitative, ‘I’ll take some odds but to your grief’, with a cue to ‘No. 10’, ‘Air’, ‘We giddy girls’.

ii. ff. 42-4. ‘No. 17’, recitative, ‘If you’ll let me command the ship’, and ‘No. 18’, air, ‘When they’re in the mood to talk’.

iii. ff. 45-6. ‘No. 21’, start of a recitative, ‘Is this the hang-dog Rascal’.

7. ff. 47-50. Trio, ‘Love and each fond power befriend us’, from ‘Harvest Home, or the Brink of a Precipice’, afterpiece first performed at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, 16 May 1787. With clarinets, horns and strings.

8. f. 51. Air, ‘Lectured by Papa and Ma overnight’, from ‘A Tour to the Land’s End’, table entertainment first performed at the New Sans Souci, 6 Oct. 1788. With two flute parts written after the score. Published as The Lady’s Diary (Printed by the Author, [1798]).

9. ff. 52-6. Movements from ‘The Whim of the Moment’, table entertainment first performed at the King’s St auction rooms, 23 Jan. 1789.

i. ff. 52-4. ‘17’, chorus, ‘I vow I thought you at first sight’.

ii. ff. 55-6. ‘21’, air, ‘’Tis true, the mask of many years’ (the earlier text ‘What tho’ the mask’ is deleted), for ‘Plutus’, flutes and strings. Published in The By-Stander, 1790, as ‘written, composed and sung in that part of the Whim of the Moment called the Triumph of Plutus’; however, the song is said to come from ‘The Long Odds’ in G. Hogarth’s edition of The Songs of Charles Dibdin (1842).

10. ff. 57-8. Air, ‘See, see, to join the revel rout’, from ‘Great News’, table entertainment first performed at the Sans Souci, 11 Oct. 1794. With two flute parts written at the end.

11. ff. 59-62. ‘4’, accompanied recitative, ‘Once in every hundred years’; the start of an air, ‘Elfin Filma hither trip’; and the end of a chorus, ‘… gain and then disolve to air’, from ‘Datchet Mead, or the Fairy Court’, serenata for the Royal wedding, performed at the New Sans Souci in 1797. The air is found in version a tone lower in Add. 30951, ff. 154-5, and was published in this form, with a different recitative and chorus, [Printed by the Author?], [1797].

12. ff. 63-9. Movements from ‘Britons Strike Home’, table entertainment first performed at the New Sans Souci, 17 Sept. 1803.

i. ff. 63-5. Air, ‘Proud honour and stern fate combining’, for voice, horns, flutes, clarinets, bassoons and strings. Followed by an arrangement ‘For a Military band’ (horns, clarinets, bassoons and bassi). Probably from ‘Britons Strike Home’. Published as ‘Love and Glory’, the last of Eight British War Songs (Printed by the author, [1804]).

ii. ff. 66-9. ‘The Subscription at Lloyd’s’, air, ‘If the world ever saw a munificent act’, for voice, horns, clarinets, bassoons and strings. Followed by an arrangement ‘For a military band’ (horns, clarinets and bassi). Title page with dedication to Sir Francis Baring Bach. Printed by the author, [1803].

13. ff. 70-1. ‘Finale’, ‘All you who have light heels’, for chorus and bass, from ‘The Rent Day, or the Yeoman’s Friend’, table entertainment performed at the Lyceum in 1808.

14. ff. 72-9. Movements from a work with the characters ‘Civet’, ‘Bellows’, ‘Mopson’, ‘Ap.’ and ‘Paldy’. For other movements featuring the same characters, see Adds. 30951, ff. 67, 140, 188; 30953, f. 72; 30954, ff. 93, 136; 30955, ff. 67, 99, 103; and 30965, f. 16.

i. f. 72. Recitative, ‘And so you think these airs’.

ii. f. 73. ‘7’, Recitative, ‘Well Master Hotmail’.

iii. f. 74. ‘8’, Recitative, ‘Sir, Sir, I’ve fetched you your Musicianns’.

iv. f. 75. ‘11’, Recitative, ‘’Tis now my turn to speak’.

v. f. 76. ‘15’, Recitative, ‘This is a very sad faux pas’.

vi. ff. 77-8. Middle portion of a duet, ‘… And so master Civet the barber from Town’.

vii. f. 79. Sketches for another air.

15. ff. 80-93. Movements from a work with the characters ‘Mrs Volatile’, Commodore’, ‘Exotic’, ‘Squire Thicket’, Syl.’ and ‘Caro’. For other movements from the same work, see Adds. 30951, ff. 164, 187 and 30955, f. 77.

i. ff. 80-1. ‘No. 9’, recitative, ‘I see her plot, ’twill take her here’.

ii. ff. 82-7. ‘No. 11’, recitative, ‘How knew she of the statue’, and duet, ‘Oh grief of heart that love so true’, lacking the last page.

iii. ff. 88. Start of an air, ‘My call to the chase all ye sportsmen obey’, for voice, clarinets, horns and strings.

iv. ff. 89-92. Chorus, ‘All strangers to our Mystic grove’, for voices, oboes, horns, bassoons and strings. The scoring is incomplete.

v. ff. 93. Recitative, ‘What, never for before me’. A copy of Add. 30955, f. 77, where directions are added for ‘Commodore’ (replaced by ‘Exotic’) and ‘Volatile’.

16. ff. 94-105. Movements apparently from one work, with the characters ‘Flint’, ‘Lady Bloomingdale’, ‘Belmont’, ‘Quack’, ‘Mrs Quack’ and ‘Squib’. For other movements from the same work, see Adds. 30952, ff. 90, 92; 30953, ff. 11, 133; and 30955, f. 56.

i. ff. 94-5. ‘Act 2nd – 2’, air, ‘I love you Jovial frolicksome folk’.

ii. ff. 96-7. ‘A[ct] 2nd – 4’, air, ‘Though some Macaronies we see now and then’.

iii. ff. 98-105. ‘Act 3d. – No. 3’, chorus (finale), ‘Then come my good friends’.

17. ff. 106-9. ‘In the Tonnelier’, air, ‘Loin des soucis et des Allarmes’, from the opéra comique in one act by François-Joseph Gossec and others, based on a libretto and score by Nicolas-Medard Audinot and Antoine-François Quetant. In Dibdin’s hand. The melody and bass parts only are supplied for most of the piece, and are in a different arrangement from that published in the full score (Paris: Chez Le Clerc, [c. 1765]). For other movements from Dibdin’s arrangement, see Adds. 30951, f. 152 and 30955, f. 41.

includes:

• f. 3 Michel-Jean Sedaine, writer of plays: Part of 'Rose and Colin', afterpiece by C. Dibdin based on a play by M.-J. Sedaine: [1778].
• ff. 7-19 Jean-François Marmontel, writer of plays: Movements connected with 'The Shepherdess of the Alps', opera by C. Dibdin based on a play by J.-F. Marmontel: [1780].
• ff. 7-8 Germain-François Poullain de Saint-Foix, writer of plays: Airs from 'The Islanders', opera by Dibdin based on a play by G.-F. P. de Saint-Foix: [1780].
• ff. 106-9 François-Joseph Gossec, composer: Nicolas Médard Audinot, writer of plays: François Antoine Quetant, writer of plays: Air from 'The Tonnelier', arrangement by C. Dibdin of the opera by F.-J. Gossec , based on a libretto and score by Nicolas Médard Audinot and François Antoine Quetant: circa 1765: Fr.