seventeenth-century italian instrumental music in the bodleian library

Seventeenth-Century Italian Instrumental Music in the Bodleian LibraryAuthor(s): Denis StevensSource: Acta Musicologica, Vol. 26, Fasc. 3/4 (Aug. - Dec., 1954), pp. 67-74Published by: International Musicological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/931983 .

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Seventeenth-Century Italian Instrumental Music in the Bodleian Library 67

Seventeenth-Century Italian Instrumental Music in the Bodleian Library

Denis Stevens (Croydon)

The list of printed music given below is offered to musicians and bibliographers as an example of the holdings, within a narrowly circumscribed field, of one of the most important libraries in England; and with the intention that the items listed should serve as a supplement to Claudio Sartori's monumental inventory' published at Florence in 1952.

The Bodleian Library, Oxford, is exceptionally rich in both manuscript and printed copies of all kinds of Italian music belonging to the early baroque period. It is with the printed copies that the present list is concerned, the latest date of publication being 1700, as it is in Sartori's catalogue. No claim is made, however, that the list contains all the music of this category to be found in the Bodleian Library. What it does contain es the music which has long formed part of a special and unique collection, that of the Music School2, which dates from 1626, when William Heather founded the Oxford Professorship of Music. During the following year Heather bequeathed his very valuable library of manuscript and printed music to the School which was to be its home until 1885 3. The official transfer, in that year, of the Music School library to the Bodleian did not therefore involve any extensive change of location; even its seventeenth-century migrations had been confined to rooms in the Schools quadrangle, the ultimate preference for a ground-floor habitat being presumably dictated by the inconvenience of carrying musical instruments upstairs.

The Music School, as well as being a repository for books and music, contained Dr Heather's collection of instruments, which were regularly used at the weekly music meetings. These meetings were a famous feature of Oxford life, and have been described with an enthusiasm amounting almost to emotion by the usually phlegmatic antiquary, Anthony Wood. On certain occasions the apparent informality of the meetings was so far extended as to cause them to be removed to a private house in the town, though another raeson may have been the renovations to the fabric of the room at the beginning of John Wilson's tenure of the professorial chair. But wherever they were held, the music meetings were lively and interesting, and without doubt the newest part-books from the continent were looked upon with considerable relish by all who were privileged to take part in consort-playing. The general musical picture has been succinctly described by Charles Alan Fyffe4 in a sentence which is still true today: "It would seem that music was more seriously and successfully cultivated at Oxford during the 17th century than it has been before or since."

1 Bibliografia della Musica Strumentale Italiana, stampata in Italia fino al 1700. (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki). 2 No longer to be reached through the door marked SCHOLA MVSICAE in the Schools quadrangle. 3 Information kindly supplied by Mr L. W. Hanson, Keeper of Printed Books, Bodleian Library. 4 In Grove's Dictionary (first edition) under ,Bachelor of Music".



68 Seventeenth-Century Italian Instrumental Music in the Bodleian Library

It is not known whether the first Professor of Music, Richard Nicholson (t 1639), took any great interest in continental publications, although two books of sonatas 5 could have been acquired before he was succeeded by Arthur Phillips. During the seventeen years of Phillips' professorship a few more items were added, but it was not until the appointment of John Wilson that a sudden growth in the Library is noticed. A number of bills dated March and April 16576 reveal that the sum of two shillings was paid for Carrage of ye books and the sum of one shilling For a new key to the Cheast where the Bookes are. John Wilson, long acknowledged as a skilful lutenist and composer, was described by Anthony Wood as the greatest and most curious Judge of Musick that ever was; and from the same source we learn that Wilson was related to Walter Porter7. The Italian influence (especially that of the stile c o n ci t a t o) in the madrigals of Walter Porter has been pointed out by several scholars, most recently by Ian Spink8. Porter's love of Italian music may well have prevailed upon Wilson to secure the best music being issued by the presses at Venice and Bologna - nearly all of it consort music - and we have Wood's word for it that John Wilson sometimes

play'd the lute, but mostly presided the consort. The closing years of the century are particularly well represented as far as Italian

publications are concerned. Some of them show marks of use, though damaged and defective copies are extremely rare. Indeed, it is obvious from the prints themselves that although they are not bound in so elegant and sumptuous a fashion as the copies in the Estense Library at Modena, they have certainly been well looked after and are in an excellent state of preservation. Of the 84 additions which can now be made to Sartori's catalogue, 14 are apparently u nica, for they do not appear among the thousands of entries which have been so painstakingly amassed and arranged in this otherwise comprehensive Bibliografia9. Furthermore, 33 of the items exist elsewhere in only one known copy, usually at one of the several libraries in Bologna o. In the following list, no attempt has been made to give more than a short title. This con- densed form of reference may make it possible to publish other supplementary lists from time to time, in view of the valuable collections in provincial and cathedral libraries in England 11. The signs used in the list have these connotations:

i) = signifies an equivalent item, but with a different (usually earlier) publication date.

5 Buonamente (1636); Rossi (1638: = 1623a). 0 Discovered in an ancient waste-paper basket preserved by sheer arccident in the University archives. See Rachael Poole: The Oxford Music School and the Collection of Portraits formerly preserved there in The Musical Antiquary, IV (1912-1913) p. 143. 7 Fasti Oxonienses, 1608. 8 Walter Porter and the Last Book of English Madrigals, in Acta Music o Logic a XXVI Fasc. I-II (1954) p. 18 There is also a recent study of Wilson - see Vincent Duckles: The ,,Curious" Art of John Wilson (1595-1674) in Journal of the American Musicological Society, VII (1954) 2. 9 In some cases I feel that reviewers have given it insufficient credit as a research tool.

lo 1683c; s. a. post al 1677; 1690a; 1676c; 1665e; 1699b; 1683a; 1691c; 1644e; 1629e; 1695b; 1663c; 1667b; 1676b; 1656b; 1690b; 1679a; 1673e; 1608j; 1691d; 1682f; 1686e; 1679b; 1623a; 1680a; 1650b; 1690c; s. a. ant. al 1696; 1610a; 1685k; 1678c; 1673b; 1678b. 11 I have to thank Mr Alec Harman of Durham University for his kind assistance in tracing Italian printed music in the Chapter Library of Durham Cathedral.




ii) + shows than the Bodleian set completes material which, in other libraries, is lacking in one or more parts.

iii) () enclosing a date number shows that the item is, at present, only to be found in the Bodleian.

iv) The number of volumes shown is that of the edition as published. When the number of part-books in the Bodleian differs from the original number, it is given in brackets.

v) The press-marks as given are not quite complete. Each one is prefixed with: [MS] Mus. Sch. This prefix must be used when any of the items are applied for at the Bodleian Library. The abbreviation "MS" was used by the early cataloguer in order to show that the part-books were as rare and precious as manuscripts; and so - it transpires - some of them are.

Date Composer and Title Opus Pubisher No. of Pressmark and Place vols.

1683c ALBERGATI, Conte Pirro: 2 G. Monti 4 C 166a-d Suonato a due violini Bologna

1685o ALBERGATI, Conte Pirro: 1 G. Monti 3 D 348a--c Balletti, Correnti, Sarabande, Bologna e Gighe

1687b ALBERGATI, Conte Pirro: 5 G. Monti 4 C 167a--d Pletro armonico Bologna

1688c DEGL'ANTONII, G. B.: 3 G. Micheletti 1 E 466 Balletti e Correnti, Gighe Bologna e Sarabande

s. a. post DEGL'ANTONII, G. B.: 4 G. Micheletti 3 E 467a-c al 1677 Balletti, Correnti, Gighe Bologna

e Sarabande =1690a DEGL'ANTONII, G. B.: 5 G. Micheletti 2 C 169a-b

Ricercate a Violino, e Violoncello, Bologna o Clavicembalo (Published 1689, with different dedication page. Note that there should be two vols: one for Violin, the other for Violoncello o Clavicembalo).

(1690od) DEGL'ANTONII, G. B.: 6 G. Micheletti 1 C 170 Balletti a Violino, e Violoncello, Bologna 6 Clavicembalo (The music is in score, and to all intents and purposes complete; though there may have been a separate violin part).

1676c DE GLI ANTONI, Pietro: 4 G. Monti 2 C 161a-b Sonate a Violono Solo Bologna (The Basso consists of violin and bass parts in score).

1686b DEGL'ANTONII, Pietro: 5 G. Monti 1 C 162 Suonate a Violino Solo Bologna (The music is in score).

+ 1665e ARRESTI, Giulio Cesare: 4 Gardano 4 (5) E 468a-e Sonate a 2, & a Tre. Con la parte Venice del Violoncello a beneplacido. (Wroclaw has Violoncello part only. Bodley has an extra Basso Continuo part).

1699b BALDASSINI, A. L.: 2 G. Komarek 4 D 366-369 Sonate a tre Rome

1683a BASSANI, Giovanni Battista: 5 G. Monti 4 E 469a--d Sinfonie a due, e tre Istromenti Bologna




Date Composer and Title Opus Publisher No. of Pressmark and Place vols.

1691c BELISI, Filippo Carlo: 1 G. Micheletti 4 E 474a-d Balletti, Correnti, Gighe, Bologna e Sarabande

1696f BERNARDI, Bartolomeo: 2 C. M. Fagnano 4 (3) C 178a-c Sonate a Tre Bologna (Lacks Tiorba o violoncello; also Violino I is defective, pp. 5-26 being taken from a completely different work - F. A. O. Ariosti's Divertimenti da Camera, 1695 f.).

1678a BONONCINI, Giovanni Maria: 12 G. Monti 3 E 487a-c Arie, e Correnti, a tre Bologna

168sb BORRI, Giovanni Battista: 1 G. Micheletti 4 E 485a-d Sinfonie a tre Bologna (The copy listed by Eitner as belonging to the Farrenc Library is the one now to be found in the library of the Paris Conservatoire).

(1689k) BRASOLINI, Domenico: Bologna 3 E 484a-c Suonate da Camera a tre P.-M. Monti (This composer does not appear in Sartori's index, and was primarily a composer of operas, according to Fetis. In 1688 a Domenico Brasolin was first violin of the Acca- demia della Morte, Florence).

1636 BUONAMENTE, Giovanni Battista: A. Vincenti 6 C 152 a-f Sonate, et Canzoni a due, tre, Venice quattro, cinque, et a sei voci (No opus number; described on title page as Libro Sesto).

1693f BUONI, Giorgio: 1 P.-M. Monti 3 D 364a-c Divertimenti per Camera Bologna (Sartori assumes that there was a separate part for Violoncello, since this is named on the title page: "a due Violini, e Violoncello". But all three extant sets of parts - Bologna, Miinster, Bodley - consist of Violino I, Violino II, Cembalo. Presumably the 'cellist played from the Cembalo part).

1693g BUONI, Giorgio: 2 P.-M. Monti 4 E 488a-d Suonate a due Violini, e Violoncello Bologna (Bodley's manuscript catalogue is incorrect in stating that there are only three volumes).

1693h BUONI, Giorgio: 3 P.-M. Monti 3 E 489a-c Allettamenti per Camera Bologna

=1700e CALDARA, Antonio: 1 E. Roger 4 C 180a-d Suonate a tre Amsterdam

+ 1644e CASTELLO, Dario: B. Magni 5 C 155a-e Sonate Concertate in stil Moderno Venice (No opus number; described on title page as Libro Secondo. The copy at Florence is not, as stated in Sartori, complete: Terza parte is lacking. Wroclaw hat the edition of 1629, but lacks Terza & Quarta parte).

+ 1629e CASTELLO, Dario: B. Magni 4 C 156a-d Sonate Concertate in stil Moderno Venice (No opus number; described on title page as Libro Primo. The Bodley copy is a reprint dated 1658. The set at Wroclaw lacks Partitura, and the earlier edition once at Berlin is now apparently lost).

1695b CASTRO, F. G. de: 1 P.-M. Monti 3 E 493a-c Trattenimenti armonici da Camera Bologna a Tre

1648 CAZZATI, Mauritio: 8 A. Vincenti 5 E 494a-e II1 Secondo Libro delle Sonate a una, Venice doi, tre, e quattro

1663c CAZZATI, Mauritio: 2 E. Dozza 4 (3) E 495a-c Canzoni da Sonare a tre Bologna





1667b CAZZATI, Mauritio: G. Monti 6 E 496a-f Correnti e Balletti a cinque Bologna all Francese, et all'Italiana (No opus number; between Op. 35 and Op. 50).

1676b COLOMBI, Gioseppe: 4 G. Monti 4 E 499a-d Sonate a due Violini Bologna

1689g COLOMBI, Gioseppe: 5 P.-M. Monti 3 E 500a-c Sonate da Camera Bologna

(1685r) FEDELI, Carlo: 1 G. Sala 4 C 168a-d Sonate a due & a tre Venice (This composer does not appear in Sartori's index, but according to Caffi an Antonio Fedeli played the violin at the Ducal Chapel, Venice, in 1692).

1641b FONTANA, G. B.: B. Magni 4 C 154a-d Sonate a 1, 2, 3 Venice

1684a GABRIELLI, Domenico: G. Monti 3 E 503a-c Balletti, Gighe, Correnti, Bologna Alemande, e Sarabande

1656b GANDINI, Salvador: 4 F. Magni 3 E 504a-c Corenti et Balletti Alla Francese, Venice & all'Italiana (Bodley's manuscript catalogue says "there should probably be another bass part for the Violoncello", but this is highly unlikely).

1683g GASPARDINI, Gasparo: 1 G. Micheletti 4 E 5soa-d Sonate a tre, due Violini e Violincino Bologna

1690b GIGLI, Giovanni Battista: 1 P.-M. Monti 4 C 171a-d Sonate de Chiesa e da Camera Bologna a 3 Strumenti

(1678f) GROSSI, Andrea: 1 G. Monti 3 E 506a-c Balletti, Correnti, Sarabande Bologna e Gighe a tre

1679a GROSSI, Andrea: 2 G. Monti 3 E 507a-c Balletti, Correnti, Sarabande Bologna e Gighe a tre

+ 1673e GUERRIERI, Agostino: 1 Gardano 5 C 159a-e Sonate di Violino a 1, 2, 3, 4. Per Venice Chiesa, & anco Aggionta per Camera. (The Bologna copy is not, as stated in Sartori, complete: it lacks Viola and Basso Con- tinuo parts).

1608j GUSSAGO, Cesario: R. Amadino 8 (7) E 508a-g Sonate a quattro, sei, et otto Venice (The Bodleian set lacks Altus I).

1695e IACCHINI, Giuseppe: 2 P.-M. Monti 5 C 177a-e Sonate da Camera a trZ e quattro Bologna stromenti

1691d LAURENTI, Bartolomeo: 1 P.-M. Monti 2 C 172a-b Suonate per Camera a Violino Bologna e Violoncello

1682f LEGRENZI, Giovanni: 4 B. Magni 4 E 517a-d Suonate da Chiesa, e da Camera Venice (The Bodleian copy is the original edition of 1656. Note that 1682 f. in Sartori's index is misprinted as 1662 f.).

(1691h) LEGRENZI, Giovanni: 16 G. Sala 6 E s18a-f Balletti e Correnti a 5 Venice





(1693k) LELLI, Francesco Maria: 1 G. Mascardi 1 D 355 Armonici Concenti, a suono unico Rome acuto, e suo continuo grave (The music is in score. A second, slightly damaged copy is to be found in Bodley under pressmark E519).

(1692j) MANNELLI, Carlo: 3 G. Mascardi Sonate a tre, doi Violini, Leuto Rome 4 D 360-363 o Violone

1655a MARINI, Biagio: 22 F. Magni 4 E 531a-d Per ogni sorte d'stromenti musicale Venice Diversi generi di Sonate, da Chiesa, e da Camera, a due, a tre, & a quattro

1685q MATTEIS, Nicola: 1 G 629

Ayrs for the Violin... & Other

Ayrs, Preludes Allmands Sarabands &c with full stops for the Violin (The copy in Bodley is imperfect to p. 25).

s. a. 16857 MATTEIS, Nicola: 1 G 630 Ayres for the Violin ... & Other

Ayres and Pieces

1687g MAZZOLINI, Carlo Andrea: 1 G. Micheletti 3 E 532a-c Sonate per Camera a tre Bologna (Bodley has an extra copy of this work: pressmark E 533a-c).

(1635f) MERULA, Tarquinio: 10 B. Magni 5 D 354a-e Musiche Concertate Venice

1686e MONARI, Clemente: 1 G. Micheletti 4 E 534a-d Ballette, e Correnti da Camera Bologna

+1679b PASINO, Stefano: 8 Gardano 4 C 165a-d Sonate a 2, 3, 4 Instrumenti Venice (The copy at Bologna lacks Violino I).

1673f PENNA, Lorenzo: 7 G. Monti 5 E 537a-e Correnti francesi a quattro Bologna

1681b PIAZZI, Carlo: 2 G. Monti 3 E 539a-c Balletti, Correnti, Gighe, Bologna e Sarabande a tre

1667a PLACUZZI, Gioseffo Maria: 1 G. Monti 9 E 540a-i Suonate A duoi, A tre, A quattro, Bologna a cinque, & otto Instromenti

(1682i) PLACUZZI, Gioseffo Maria: 2 G. Monti 3 E 541a-c

II numero sonoro, modolato in modi Bologna armonici & aritmetici

1673d POLAROLI, Orazio: 1 G. Monti 3 E 160a-c Correnti, Balletti, Gighe, Alle- Bologna mande, Arie, etc. (Sartori assumes that there are four part-books, with separate bass parts for Violone and for Spinetta 6 Tiorba, but the bass part in the Bodleian set is marked "Violone, Spinetta, 6 Tiorba" and presumably served for the three instruments).

1695c RAVENSCROFT, Giovanni: 1 G. Mascardi 4 D 371a-d Sonate a tre, doi Violini e Violone, Rome 6 Arcileuto





=1623a ROSSI, Salomone: 12 A. Vincenti 3 C 153a-c II Terzo Libro de Varie Sonate, Venice Sinfonie, Gagliarde, Brandi, e Corrente (Bodley has the third edition, dated 1638, the printed dedication page of the first edition being omitted).

1688a SANMARTINI, Pietro: 2 4 E 544a-c Sinfonie a due Violini, e Liuto, Florence e Basso di Viola (The part for Liuto 6 Basso di Viola is missing from the Bodley set. No publisher's name is given, as the private press of Ferdinand of Tuscany was used).

(1694f) STIAVA, Francesco Maria: 1 P.-M. Monti 13 D 347a-j Salmi Concertati, a cinque voci, Bologna con Violini obligati, e ripieni, a beneplacito

(1641g) TARDITI, Horatio: A. Vincenti 6 D 353a-f Concerto il decimo ottavo musiche Venice da chiesa (Two violins are called for in four of the items).

+1650b TODESCHINI, Francesco: 1 A. Vincenti 4 E 546a-d Correnti, Gagliarde, Balletti, et Arie Venice (The set at Wroclaw lacks the Basso).

+ 1690c TONINI, Bernardo: 1 G. Sala 4 E 551a-d Baletti da Camera, a due Violini, Venice e Violetta & Cembalo (According to Sartori, the Vienna copy has five part-books, the extra one - for Vio- lone - being in manuscript. It seems unlikely that a separate part for Violone was ever printed).

1692a TORELLI, Giuseppe: 5 G. Micheletti 6 C 175a-f Sinfonie a tre e Concerti a quattro Bologna

1649b UCCELLINI, Marco: 5 A. Vincenti 2 C 157a--c Sonate over Canzoni da farsi Venice a Violino Solo

s. a. VERACINI, Antonio: 2 F. Rosati 2 E 552a-b ant. al 1696 Sonate da Camera a Violino Solo Modena

(Bodley's set lacks the title-page of the Violin part). 1696d VERACINI, Antonio: 3 F. Rosati 3 C 197a-c

Sonate da Camera a due, Violino, Modena e Violone, 6 Arcileuto, col Basso il Cimbalo

1610a VIADANA, Lodovico: 18 G. Vincenti 9 E 553a-i Sinfonie musicali a otto voci Venice

(1687e) VINACESE, Benedetto: 1 G. Sala 4 E 554a-d Suonate da Camera a Tre, Due Venice Violini, Violoncello, e Cimbalo (The only other known instrumental work by this composer was published in 1692, as Op. 2).

=1666a VITALI, Giovanni Battista: 1 M. Silvani 3 E 555a-c Correnti, e Balletti da Camera, Bologna A due Violini (Bodley has the reprint of 1686, published by G. Monti).





1667e VITALI, Giovanni Battista: 2 G. Monti 3 E 556a-c Sonate a due Violini Bologna (Bodley has the Gardano edition published at Venice in 1685).

1677i VITALI, Giovanni Battista: 5 G. Monti 5 E 557a-e Sonate a due, tre, quattro, Bologna e cinque stromenti

+1685k VITALI, Giovanni Battista: 8 Stamparia 3 E 558a-c Balletti, Correnti, e Capricci Del Gardano per Camera Venice

1684b VITALI, Giovanni Battista: 11 G. G. Ferri 6 E 559a-f Varie Sonate, alla Francese, Modena & all'Italiana

1693b VITALI, Tomaso Antonio: 1 A. Ricci 4 D 365a-d Sonate a tre, Doi Violini, Modena e Violoncello (Presumably Op. 1, since Op. 2 was published two months later - in June 1693, by Canobi of Modena).

=1678c VIVIANI, Giovanni: 4 G. Sala 2 C 164a-b Sonate a violino solo ... Capricci Venice Armonici, da Chiesa, e da Camera (The copy in Bodley bears the date 1678, but was printed at Rome by Vannacci. The contents agree exactly with the Venice edition, but the title-page differs).

=1673b VIVIANI, Giovanni: 1 Gardano 4 E 560a-d Suonate a 3. Due Violini, e Viola Venice (Bodley has the reprint of 1679, by G. Sala, Venice).

1683b ZIANI, Alessandro: 1 Stampa 4 E 561a-d Harmonie di Strumenti Musicali del Gardano

Venice 1678b ZIANI, Pietro Andrea: 7 G. Sala 6 C 163a-f

Sonate a tre quattro cinque, Venice e sei stromenti

COLLECTIONS OF SONATAS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS (1681e) MAGNI, F., detto Gardano: Gardano 4 E 524a-d

Prima Scielta di Sonate Venice a 2 e 3 Istromenti

(1682j) SALA, Gioseppe: G. Sala 3 E 543a-c L'armonia sonora delle Suonate Venice a due Violini

1680a SILVANI, Marino: G. Monti 3 (4) E 545a-d Scielta delle Suonate a due Violini Bologna (There is an extra Organo part in the Bodley set).



seventeenth-century italian instrumental music in the bodleian library

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